Mary-Kate Olsen Spotted in Rare Photo Riding Her Horse

The Olsen twins have become notoriously private in their years out of the spotlight, but the designers do occasionally appear in public for various events, and in the case of Mary-Kate Olsen, horseback riding competitions.

On Friday, May 17, Olsen was spotted at Madrid-Longines Champions, the International Global Champions Tour, which was held at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in Madrid, Spain.

E! News reports that Olsen’s husband, Olivier Sarkozy, and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, were on hand to watch The Row designer compete, with Mary-Kate and her horse, Fatum, jumping fences together.

Fans might not know that the 32-year-old is a competitive horseback rider, with Olsen sharing in her HITS profile that she began riding after falling in love with horses on set of her and Ashley’s film, To Grandmother’s House We Go.

“I was six when I first fell in love and it was with a pony named 4×4,” she shared. “Having horseback riding as an outlet was super important because it allowed me to have another life and outlet outside of work and school. I continued to ride through high school and stopped when I moved to New York.”

“I came back to the sport because I missed it every day that I wasn’t riding,” Mary-Kate explained. “It was the hardest thing to leave and the hardest thing to come back to.”

The designer added that part of her love of riding stems from the fact that “it allows me to exist in another world.”

“[Riding] allows me to practice being accepting, patient, disciplined, compassionate, competitive, and all of those other emotions that are very important to have in your everyday life,” she explained. “Horses teach you a lot about yourself.”

Mary-Kate and Ashley gave up acting after their teenage years and are now consistently busy with other endeavors including their clothing lines The Row and Elizabeth and James, something Mary-Kate admitted can be difficult at times.

“It is a challenge to balance both a career that requires almost all of my time and a true passion that is not a full time job,” she said. “It is unfortunate that I can’t be in two places at once. I have had to learn to be patient with myself.”

Mary-Kate also had a few words of wisdom for young riders, offering advice on how to balance the demanding worlds of riding and school.

“My advice would be that school is very important, riding needs to be a deep passion, and horses will teach you a lot and give you tools that you will be able to use for the rest of your life,” she shared.

Photo Credit: Getty / Gilbert Carrasquillo