Young New Jersey equestrian earns respect at Maccabiah Games

By Hunterdon County Democrat
on July 29, 2013 at 2:13 PM, updated July 29, 2013 at 2:34 PM

The Maccabiah Games are not only about winning medals and breaking records.

Equestrian Carly Goldstein, 16, of Voorhees, showed everyone the character and determination of a true champion, even without making the podium at the games in Israel.

During a competition last year, Goldstein fell off her horse and broke her back in three different places. Goldstein and her family didn't know how severe her spinal injury was at the time, however. "I learned my back was broken only four days before we came to Israel. I decided to come here anyway and try to compete, but once I started riding my horse in the competition, I felt my back couldn't hold me, I felt numbness in my back and had to retire," she said.

The relationship between a rider and her horse is very important and on top her injury, her horse was ill just a few hours before the competition on Tuesday and could not compete. To overcome this hurdle, Goldstein was paired with a different horse. Despite training with the horse for only a short time, she decided to compete in the medium level dressage.

The judges and the rest of her competitors waited patiently for Goldstein to enter the arena. And although she wasn't able to finish the competition, the rest of the teams and fans didn't stop cheering her on for her efforts. "When I couldn't ride, the American, Israeli, Mexican, Chilean and the rest of the teams cheered so hard I got so excited. I thank them so much."

Goldstein was given a chance to compete again on Wednesday, but her back injury kept her out of the contest. "It's very unfortunate I couldn't carry on because I came here to ride, but my injury made it impossible. I'm still very happy being here with my teammates and the rest of the delegation."

Goldstein has been riding for 12 years and is thrilled to visit Israel together with her parents and older brother, who came to support her.

Goldstein said the Maccabiah experience gave her a lot, not only sports-wise but also culturally as a Jew visiting Israel. "It is one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I don't want this visit to end. Since I got here I met a lot of Jewish athletes competing in different sports besides equestrian, and that is really cool."

Fellow Americans Wendy Garfinkle and June Brody, both of Tewksbury Township, finished in fifth and eighth, respectively, in the the competition.

This is the first time the Maccabiah Games have included equestrian sports.

For complete results of the games see maccabiah.com.

The games continue through July 30. New Jersey sent a large delegation to the event.