Gladstone, NJ - - August 30, 2000 - Margie Goldstein Engle of Wellington, FL was named the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Athlete of the Month for August following her winning performance on board Hidden Creek's Perin, owned by Hidden Creek Farm, during the second phase of selection trials for the 2000 Show Jumping Olympic Team at Oaks/Blenheim in San Juan Capistrano, CA and The Del Mar Horse Park in Del Mar, CA.

After completing five rounds in the second phase of the selection trials, Engle had a total of 16 faults. She finished the ten trials as the highest placed rider, with a total of 25.25 faults, carrying over 9.25 from the first phase held during the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, June 21-25. Engle joins teammates Nona Garson of Lebanon, NJ with Rhythmical owned by Garson and the Kamine Family; Laura Kraut of Oconomowoc, WI with Liberty owned by the Summit Group and Lauren Hough of Ocala, FL with Clasiko owned by the Clasiko Group heading to Australia for the 2000 Olympic Games.

Other accomplishments in August include a win in the North Fork Classic Grand Prix in Calverton, NY and a second place finish in the $50,000 Budweiser Grand Prix in Zionsville, IN.

Engle rode Hidden Creek's Alvaretto to the team Silver Medal during the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. She captured the $100,000 Rolex/USET Show Jumping Championship at the 1998 Bayer/USET Festival of Champions. She was one of twelve riders to contribute to the US Equestrian Team's (USET) win in the inaugural Samsung Nations' Cup Series in 1997. She was a recipient of a USET grant to represent the US on a 1997 European tour where she teamed with Hidden Creek's Laurel to help the USET capture the Nations' Cup victories at Rome and St. Gallen, and the pair won the prestigious Grand Prix of Rome. She also won the Grand Prix at Arnhem, Holland on Hidden Creek's Alvaretto during the tour.

Engle holds many records: most AGA wins with the same horse in the same season; most Grand Prix wins in a single season (11); and two Grand Prix wins in two days. She was the first rider to place six horses in the ribbons in a single Grand Prix class, and the first rider to ever place first, second, third, fourth, and fifth in a single Grand Prix class. In 1998, she tied for sixth place in the World Cup Final in Helsinki, Finland and was first alternate for the USET's World Equestrian Games squad

The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.