Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa have some happy family news. Their only daughter, Olympic show jumper Jessica Springsteen, is expecting her first child with her partner, Belgian rider Nicola Philippaerts.
It will be the second grandchild for Bruce and Patti. Their youngest son, Sam Springsteen, became a father in 2022, when he and his fiancée welcomed a daughter named Lily Harper.
Two Words and a Few Photos
Jessica Springsteen shared the news on Saturday, October 10, in a joint Instagram post with Nicola Philippaerts. She kept it simple. The caption read only “New adventures.”
The post gathered moments from the couple’s recent travels, along with several photos of Jessica, 34, cradling her baby bump. In one she wore a black gown. In another she stood by a pier in a black and yellow dress. Fans quickly filled the comments with congratulations for the whole Springsteen family.
The couple did not share a due date or any other details, and that fits the way Jessica has long handled her private life. For someone with one of the most famous last names in American music, she has always let her work in the saddle do most of the talking.
A Childhood on Stone Hill Farm
Jessica Springsteen’s love of horses started at home. When she was young, Bruce and Patti owned Stone Hill Farm, a 368-acre property in Colts Neck, New Jersey. The farm had goats, chickens, pigs and even a pair of ostriches. But it was the horses that won her over.
She began riding lessons when she was about five and soon had a pony of her own. She has said she was inspired after watching her mother take riding lessons. Those hours on the family farm turned into something serious. In 2008 she won the ASPCA Maclay Finals, one of the most important equitation titles for young American riders. At just 20, while she was a student at Duke University, she was named an alternate for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
Her big moment came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Riding the stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, she helped the United States win the team silver medal in show jumping. US Equestrian still lists her hometown as Colts Neck.
A Partner From Another Horse Family
Nicola Philippaerts comes from one of the best-known show jumping families in Europe. Born in 1993, he is the son of Ludo Philippaerts, who rode for Belgium at four Olympic Games, and the twin brother of rider Olivier Philippaerts. He has said he committed to riding by age six, and he has spoken of the family stables in Belgium as the heart of everything they do.
As a young rider, Nicola won team gold at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and gold medals at the 2011 European Young Rider Championships. He has since become a regular on the top international circuits, the same world where Jessica Springsteen competes. The two have been together since 2024.
The Springsteen Family Grows
Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa have been married since 1991. Jessica, born that same year, is their middle child, between her brothers Evan and Sam. Now the daughter who grew up riding ponies on a New Jersey farm is getting ready for a new chapter of her own.
Her baby will arrive into a family with deep roots on both sides of the ocean: a rock and roll legend and an E Street Band singer on one side, and a Belgian riding dynasty on the other. For now, Jessica has said all she wants to say in two words. New adventures.
Please join us in wishing Jessica and Nicola, and the whole Springsteen family, all the best.