Support Selfie & Adriane in their FEI endeavors
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Selfie and I are headed to Florida for the month of March to chase our Dreams and compete amongst some of the best horse and rider combinations in the world ! We are looking for some help to make this goal a reality , but before we do so, I would like to share our story:
Nearly 5 years ago a spirited, naughty, and charismatic almost 7 year-old gelding named Selfmade came into my mother’s barn as a sales horse. She asked me if I would be willing to help her with the task of selling “Selfie.” My mom acquired Selfie for a very reasonable price through our dear friend and German trainer, Martin Küpper.
my mom, grandma , and hopeful sales prospect Selfie the day he arrived from Germany.
Though as we all know in the horse world, when a high-quality horse can be found for a relatively low price, there is always a reason! Selfie quickly showed us all the quirks that made him the complicated, sometimes explosive, and truly one-of-a-kind freak of nature that makes him Selfie!
The first day I got on him my mom gave me two instructions: 1. Don’t surprise him. 2. Do not fall in love with him, we aren’t keeping him.
I very quickly broke both instructions in typical Adriane fashion! Riding his very balanced canter, I came across the diagonal and went to ask for a single flying change, figuring with him being nearly 7, and having done the FEI young horse classes in Germany, this would not be a big ask. WRONG. He promptly exploded from the lightest of aids and I nearly fell off, laughing the whole way, while my mom watched on in horror!
Me breaking rule one, I surprised him!
I wasn’t even supposed to be riding at the time as I was in an air cast recovering from a severe ankle injury.
I managed to stay in the middle of him, then felt one of the greatest trots of my life. I turned to my mom, smiled, and said “this horse is going to be mine.” After hearing this her face looked even more horrified than when I had almost fallen off, and I will never forget the next words she said to me: ”absolutely not, we need to actually be making money and I don’t want to hear you saying that I kept you from making an Olympic team because we sold him.”
Thankfully, this was just the beginning of our story. After lots of negotiations my mom and I eventually came to an agreement. I purchased Selfie from her in December of 2019 and our journey as a real team officially began.
Our first show together, May 2019
Selfie 4th Level Dressage at Devon 2019
As a 3rd and 4th level horse, Selfie was a basket case. While there were high scores and great results in the mix, we could not halt, didn’t have a clean flying change, and often had nuclear meltdowns in the competition ring that had everyone in the vicinity fearing for my safety.
Selfie always keeping me on my toes !
At the small tour level (Prix Saint George/ Intermediare 1), Selfie began to channel some of that explosive energy for good and started to mature, earning respectable finishes both regionally/nationally, and at the CDI (international) level by the end of 2021.
Selfie beginning to grow up
our first CDI together , finishing 6th in the Prix Saint George 3* at Devon, 2021
In the winter of 2021, after solidifying him as a competitive CDI small tour horse, we set our sights on competing in Wellington, Florida for the winter of 2022. This would have been my first winter in Wellington and I was excited to get our name out there, receive the training we needed to improve, and get the international experience we so desperately needed.
Selfie and I with our long time coach, George Williams, who we had planned to train with for the Wellington season of 2021.
Unfortunately, life had other plans, and on the way to Wellington, while temporarily staying in Aiken, SC, Selfie mysteriously injured his hock while out in a pasture.
his hock after coming in from the field that day
I was supposed to take several horses to Florida that winter, including a Grand Prix mount that I was to campaign at Global in the CDI Grand Prix classes. And a sales horse I had brought along from 3rd level to Prix Saint George in less than a year .
Working with the Grand Prix stallion in Aiken, SC to prepare for Wellington.
Duende, a FEI stallion I had developed, trained, and cared for free of charge in 2021 in hopes of selling and campaigning in Wellington.
Instead of bringing Selfie along to Florida injured , which is what my sponsors at the time had asked me to do, or send him home with out me, I chose to forgo my Wellington pursuits, choosing to give up the ride on the proven Grand Prix horse , and loosing the chance of recovering the money I had invested in sales horse Duende, so I could bring Selfie home to recover . I said good bye to my dear friend of a year Duende, as well as my new Grand Prix partner, and headed back north on Christmas Eve to take care of my Boy .
Selfie back home on Christmas Eve in the temporary outside stall I made for him.
Winter 2022 proved to be a nightmare for both Selfie and me. My vet Dr. Kiefer feared he tore a collateral ligament in his hock while in Aiken, which is a career-ending injury. After examining him upon his return to Virginia he said me, “I’m not telling you to get a new horse yet.” Those words immediately had me in tears. The thought we would possibly never dance again broke me.
After two weeks of icing and poulticing, we did an ultrasound of the leg (it was initially too swollen to get clear images). Thankfully, he only had bruising outside of the collateral ligaments
(no tear) and a very mild fracture in one of the bones of his hock. He was expected to make a full recovery after a careful rehab. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to hear a horse fractured something as I was that day!
We set forward with a recovery plan and I was at the barn every single day that winter for Selfie, doing anything I could to make him feel loved and supported no matter what the weather was like.
(taking Selfie on his daily handwalks)
On January 19, 2022, one day before his first recheck, disaster struck. It was a very sunny but cold and icy day. I had just finished shoveling the ice out of his small outside stall so he could enjoy some time in the sun since he could not have turn out due to his injury.
Selfie just moments before disaster struck.
I put him out, and within minutes of me walking into the barn, he tried to roll. I yelled at him to get up for fear he would roll into the gate of his small, enclosed area. Unfortunately, he did exactly that - he rolled directly into the metal corral-style gates, trapping one of his hind legs in between two of the gates. I sprinted to the field and jumped the fence to get to him as quickly as possible. As soon as he realized his leg was caught between the gates, he panicked and began thrashing, trying to get up, and falling over repeatedly. I called the barn manager for help, but while waiting for his assistance Selfie’s patience ran out and he proceeded to lunge through me and into the gates with his front legs, falling over once more . The metal gates crumpled on top of him and crushed his right hind fetlock. I was certain it was broken and that this would be his end. Right then the barn manager showed up to assist and Selfie finally went into shock and laid down flat.
We were then able to remove the gates that had fallen on top of him and pried apart the gates that were crushing his fetlock. After a minute or so, Selfie got up and began screaming and trembling. He was unable to bear weight on the leg that was crushed by the gates (which was not the leg with the fractured hock). I was certain in that moment that I was going to have to say goodbye to my best friend and horse of a lifetime. Seeing him in the amount of pain he was in was unbearable.
The aftermath of the gates
By the grace of God , he miraculously didn’t break anything, and also did not further damage his healing hock. After Selfie’s kiss with death, he came back stronger and better than ever. He proceeded to make a full recovery and by April of 2022 he was back in the show ring, earning a 74% in the FEI intermediare I freestyle, his highest score to date.
Selfie’s first show back April 2022
Selfies winter comeback video
Selfie’s first CDI post injury, May 2022
By January of 2023, he went down the centerline of his first Grand Prix in Aiken, SC, winning the class with a 63% in the same town he nearly ended his career one year earlier .
This year has been breakout a year for me and Selfie and we are currently on an upward trajectory. Here’s a list of some of our major accomplishments from 2023:
APRIL
Final score received for USDF Diamond Achievement award
MAY
MADFEST 3* Grand Prix :
6th place in the 3* Grand Prix
3rd place in the 3* Grand Prix Freestyle
JULY
Dressage at the Park Big Tour 2*:
1st place Intermediare II 2*
3rd place Grand Prix 2*
Dressage at Lexington:
3rd place Maestro Grand Prix Challenge
4th place FEI Freestyle Challenge
SEPTEMBER
Rosemont Dressage, FEI Freestyle high score 76.9% (Selfie’s highest score to date )
Dressage at Devon, CDI-W (World Cup qualifier)
Best presented CDI Horse
10th Grand Prix CDI-W 62.28%
10th World Cup Grand Prix 67.35
The moment I realized I qualified for the Grand Prix World Cup freestyle qualifier at Devon . A life long dream.
performing under the lights at Devon with a packed audience in the Grand Prix Freestyle .
OCTOBER
Region One GAIG Championships:
Reserve Champion Open Grand Prix 65%
5th place Open Grand Prix Freestyle 68%
NOVEMBER
US Dressage Finals:
6th place Open Grand Prix Freestyle Finals 70.4%
After our breakout year in 2023, we have our sights set on competing and training in Florida for the month of March. Our hope is to complete one more World Cup Qualifier, as well as a couple other 3* Grand Prix’s in order to get more experience competing against high caliber combinations. From just the few international shows we attended in 2023 as a newer CDI Grand Prix pair, we made several high caliber ranking lists. We hope to improve these rankings in 2024, which include (as of January 21, 2024):
21st in the Dressage - FEI Dressage World Cup™ Standings North American League
318th in the Dressage - FEI Dressage World Ranking - Athletes - CDI3*/CDIO3*
By going to Florida this winter, I will be able to continue working to maintain or improve my spots on these lists with the goal of representing the USA on an international team in the coming years. I have been putting money aside all year to make this dream a reality. I have managed to put enough aside to afford the costs of the competitions, stabling, living, and training while in Florida, but I currently do not have enough to cover the loss of income that will come from being away from my training business in Virginia for a month.
Any amount donated will go directly towards our journey and will be greatly appreciated by both Selfie and I!! Even if you are unable to contribute financially, sharing our story is just as appreciated!
you can also best follow along our journey on TikTok: Adriane & Selfie’s TikTok
Thank you♥️
Organizer
Adriane Alvord
Organizer
Millwood, VA
