Originally from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area and born November 20, 1963, Elizabeth “Beezie” Madden received her first pony as a Christmas gift. She began competing at the Grand Prix level in 1985. Horses have been a family affair for Madden; her parents, Joe and Kathy Patton, owned a horse farm in Wisconsin, and for Beezie and her husband John, they operate their stable, John Madden Sales, in Cazenovia, New York.
Madden has set the standards for show jumping in many ways. She was the first woman to pass the $1 million mark in earnings for show jumping. In 2004 she became the first woman and the first American rider to reach the top three in the Show Jumping world-ranking list. Madden is also the only four time USEF Equestrian of the Year. In 2014, Madden became the first woman to win prestigious King George Gold Cup at Hickstead with Cortes’C’. Beezie also became the first woman and one of only a few riders to achieve back to back victories in the King George V Cup when she repeated the victory with Cortes C in 2015.
In April of 2013, Madden won the FEI World Cup Finals Champion in Gothenburg, Sweden aboard Abigail Wexner’s horse Simon. Madden is only the 5th woman ever to win the FEI World Cup Finals. Subsequently in 2013 Simon was named the 2013 USEF International Horse of the Year. Madden followed up that win with a repeat in 2018 with Abigail Wexner's Breitling LS.
Madden is an Individual Olympic Bronze Medalist and a member of the two gold medal U.S. teams from the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, where she rode Authentic. She also was a part of the U.S silver medal team in 2016 with Cortes'C'.
In 2006, she won both team and individual silver medals at the World Equestrian Games aboard the nearly flawless Authentic. In 2014 Madden returned to the World Equestrian Games with Cortes’C’, winning a team bronze and individual bronze. Cortes’C’ was also voted Best Horse of the Games. Madden was a member of the gold medal winning 2003 (aboard Conquest II) and 2011 (aboard Coral Reef Via Volo) Pan American Games Teams and an individual silver medalist with Coral Reef Via Volo at the 2011 Pan American Games. She returned for a third Olympic appearance at the 2012 London Olympics on Coral Reef Via Volo owned by Coral Reef Ranch where she and US team did not medal.
Beezie has 18 wins in Nations Cup competition and 8 World Cup Qualifier wins. In 2005, she won the $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational in Tampa aboard Authentic and repeated the feat in 2007 (Authentic) and again in 2014 (Coral Reef Via Volo). Other notable finishes include the Million Dollar CN International at Spruce Meadows in Canada aboard Judgement ISF in 2005. She is also a three-time winner of the prestigious Spruce Meadows Atco Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup, winning twice on Authentic and again in 2012 on Simon. Madden currently is the 2nd on the all-time prize money winnings standings at the world renowned Spruce Meadows. In July of 2007, Madden added winning the world renowned Grand Prix of Aachen to her list of notable achievements aboard Authentic. Beezie became the first rider to win the $1 Million AIG HITS Grand Prix in all three locations offered in 2019 with her win with Darry Lou at HITS Thermal.