Juliana Joel was born in Southern France, where her parents, ois Bonaparte and Hortense Folieux, were aristocrats from the Grand Basset region of their native land. Growing up, she attended the Ecole Centenaire (arts college) in Southern France which would eventually become the Ecole des Beaux-arts. Her early years and educational training were spent in Paris, studying ballet, reading philosophy, poetry and French. At age sixteen she went to England to study for a year at Jourdan’s Conservatory in Guildford. She then enrolled in the National Academy of Fashion London finishing up her degree in Design.
Height and physical education are the key features of any successful dressage rider. The average rider height is 140 cm, but this depends on the level of physical training she has already acquired. Height can be an advantage in that a taller rider can maintain a good posture while riding which is helpful when working up a speed. However, it is also important that she be proportioned and her body built should be similar to the horse.
Height also serves as a liability in that it can serve to minimize the sensual qualities of the performance. This was very apparent in the Dressage act when Juliana Joel had to dismount in the middle of the act due to excessive height which was preventing her from reaching the horse’s hind quarters. Other disadvantages include weight and lack of training. Being overweight will prevent you from performing tricks such as somersaults which require you to be lighter in body type. There is also the problem of lack of exercise. It can be hard to gain and keep a stable height during training which is why most competitors are between five and six feet in height.