Mary-Kate Olsen Places 3rd in Horseback Riding Competition After Disqualifying

Former child star Mary-Kate Olsen quit acting to focus on fashion, but she also has a passion for horses — read more

Michelle Tanner would be proud. Full House alum Mary-Kate Olsen is still riding horses, and she showed off her skills at an Italian competition.

The 35-year-old was spotted at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Rome where she placed 3rd on Saturday, September 18.

The latest ribbon came days after she placed second in the CSI2 2 Phases Special on Thursday, September 16, with a time of 38.48 seconds, Vanity Fair reports.

The placements are an improvement from her last trip to the equestrian competition. In 2019, she was disqualified due to an “error of course” on one run, but she placed sixth in her class with horse Naomi on another, Page Six reported at the time.

The Elizabeth and James designer‘s love of horses has been well-documented. As a child star, she and sister Ashley Olsen started horseback riding when they were 6 years old, and their Full House character Michelle took up the same hobby. Later, Mary-Kate joined her high school’s equestrian team before competing internationally.

“Having horseback riding as an outlet was super important because it allowed me to have another life and outlet outside of work and school,” she said in her HITS rider profile. “I continued to ride through high school and stopped when I moved to New York.”

Since leaving acting after 2011’s Beastly, she rides competitively for fun and works as a fashion designer full-time alongside her twin.

“One of The Row’s first blazers was inspired by one of my first show jumping coats,” the New York Minute star, who finalized her divorce from Olivier Sarkozy in January, said in her profile. “My sister and I always think about fit and comfort when designing anything which is important in equestrian clothing as well.”

Mary-Kate’s placement in horseback riding competitions isn’t surprising. In addition to her lifelong love for the animals, she has made it clear that she doesn’t do things halfway when she’s passionate.

“I think we’re very much perfectionists,” the California native told i-D in June for an oral history of her and Ashley’s brand, The Row. “We’re hard workers and we’ve always been hard workers. I’m happy that people look at it as a perfect product or products that feel complete, or whole. I think the reason we do fashion is to constantly try to fix our imperfections. And you have next season to do that. But it’s also our job to find every imperfection in there to make sure that we’re constantly pushing ourselves and training our eyes and making sure everyone is served. Just evolving and learning.”

See photos of Mary-Kate riding into 3rd place below: