This past weekend, Alyssa Selman was back doing what she was born to do. Nine years after being thrown from her horse during a race at the Assiniboia Downs, an incident that left the talented jockey paralyzed from the chest down, Selman raced around the barrels at an event in her home community of Carman, Manitoba. Even with over 400 professional races under her belt, this special ride brought back the butterflies.
“I was surprised I had a little bit of nerves I wasn’t quite sure how Duke would want to do it or be willing to do it so there were nerves but the excitement was good it was nice,” she explained. Following her incident in 2015, which was described at the time as the most serious at the track in 35 years, Selman had moments of doubt whether her riding days were over. That all changed with the arrival of a specialized saddle, and a beautiful Belgian Paint named Duke, whose owner, a woman from Beausejour knew immediately they were a match.
“She knew that I needed this and that I would probably make it work with Duke and that it would end up being a good fit.” And while her racing days are behind her, Selman has passed on her love to her daughter Ari, who is following in her mother’s hoof prints, pursuing the dream of riding horses for a living. “That keeps me into it, enjoying it and the fact that she wants it just as bad as I did, that’s enough.
” For someone whose love for horses began by sneaking out against her parent’s wishes to ride, Selman wo.