In the summer of 2015, Assiniboia Downs-based jockey Alyssa Selman was paralyzed from the chest down after having been involved in a racing accident. The determined Selman began to drive a car again in January of this year. Now, starting this month, the fierce rider is back in a saddle once again.
As an article by Erin Brohman for the CBC explains, Selman has been able to return to horseback riding courtesy of a new horse named ‘Duke’ and a customized saddle crafted by an 80-year-old Arkansas resident.
Selman and her grandmother hopped in the car and made the trek down to the southern state to pick up the $4,000 saddle. Once home, Selman told herself that she would pace herself in terms of her trips with Duke, who has been involved in the 4H program and had given rides to children and individuals with special needs.
Although, once in the saddle, the ex-rider allowed herself to ask the 13-year-old Belgian Paint for just a bit more.
"I said I'd take it easy and I'd walk. I'd walk for a couple of weeks,” Selman told the CBC. “But the second time I got on him I was trotting. That's how easy I took it. I would like to go faster but I'm not quite ready. I say that now but maybe the next time on him I'll be galloping, who knows," she said.
Alyssa Selman, pictured back in the saddle atop ‘Duke’ (Photo courtesy Jeff Stapleton / CBC)
Selman told the CBC that riding Duke has been a challenge, as she has had to adjust her guidance and balance techniques due to not being able to use her legs.
"I thought I might have forgotten something, but I haven't. It came right back when I was up there,” she said. “He was a little lazy and hard to get going at first, and I can't use my legs, so I had to just use my hands and voice a little more."
(With files from the CBC)