Abbelen Premiers New Grand Prix Hope, Jida Selly A

Dressage

Germany

German professional dressage rider Anna Christina Abbelen has showcased a new Grand Prix hopeful, Jida Selly A. Abbelen sourced the mare in Florida after she sold her Hyatt to Tinne Vilhelmson's sponsor.

Jida Selly A is a 9-year old KWPN mare by Zardando out of Dyselly A (by Wynton x Lancet).

The Netherlands

Bred by A. Adriaansen from De Krim in the Netherlands, Jida Selly A descends from a well known Dutch dam line.

She was named a premium foal at the 2014 KWPN foal inspection in Zuidenveld and at the 2017 KWPN mare inspection in Bronneger she was one of the high scorers with a total of 78 points. She scored a 9.5 for trot, 7 for walk, 7.5 for canter (overall 8 for gaits) and 7.0 for conformation. This score gave her the "ster" mare title and an invitation to the Drenthe regional and Ermelo national mare show, where she was fourth in her group earning her elite status.

U.S.A.

Dutch horse dealer Peter de Boer bought Jida Sell A as an unbroken 3year old and sold her as 5-year old to American Grand Prix rider Cesar Parra in 2019.

Parra allocated to the ride to Finnish Merita Hagren, whom the Colombian born Olympian discovered as a rider and gave her her first big opportunities as a young professional. She was his assistant at the time before moving to Helgstrand Dressage in Denmark. With Jida Selly Hagren showed in Wellington in 2019 and her season culminated in winning bronze at the 2019 U.S. Young Horse Championships at Lamplight.

In 2020 Parra briefly took over the ride himself and competed Jida in the 6-year old tests before his long-time wingman Katie Riley became the owner of the horse. She went independent in Wellington, Florida, and showed the mare once in 2021at Third Level, posting 66.351%.

Riley decided to sell the mare and has her shipped to Germany where American Jessica Howington bought her in 2022 and brought the frequent flyer back to Florida from where she came. This rider produced her to small tour level, competing her in one show in two Prix St Georges classes in Wellington in January 2023 scoring 69.559% and 68.529%.Then Andrea Woodard competed the mare in one show in two Intermediaire II classes at the Global Dressage Festival in March 2023, scoring 72.647% and 70.735%.

Anna Abbelen

With Merita Hagren at the 2019 U.S.
Young Horse Championships

In April 2023 Woodard announced the sale of the mare on Facebook.

"We can’t wait to follow you on your journey and get to see what the future holds in store for you, the sky is the limit for this amazing combination," Andrea wrote. "Thank you to the Howington family for entrusting us with the showcasing of your amazing horse, it was a true privilege! Jida will definitely always have a very special place in our hearts and she will be greatly missed!"

After the sale of Hyatt, Abbelen wanted to re-invest in a rising hope for herself and spotted Jida Selly. She and her mom Silke bought Jida Selly A.

After we sold Hyatt last winter, who was by that time my future GP hope, it was clear that I would need an upcoming horse, in addition to Sam Donnerhall," Anna told Eurodressage. "So i kept my eyes open and i saw Selly on a national show in Wellington. She knew all the tricks, I went for a try out and directly fell in love as she has a ride ability for 10. For me it was important that i find a horse which shows all potential, but i could still get my own handwriting and grow together. With the final help in decision making from team Kasselmann, I acquired Selly in April and she came to me right after Horses and Dreams."

Anna is happy to see that her previous horse Hyatt is doing so well to Tinne Vilhelmson, after the mare made her CDI debut in Wellington at medium tour level and most recently posted 70.435% in her first international Grand Prix in Kronenberg. "It turned out that Kasselmanns made the right match with Tinne Vilhelmson as she already had her international GP debut," Anna smiled.

Selly Horse Power

Abbelen is thrilled to have great horse power in "Selly".

"She has a high talent for the collected stuff like piaffe-passage," said Anna. "She is super smart and eager to do everything right. Time will tell me, when I show her the first time, but it seems that i am blessed to go to Wellington with Kasselmann again this winter season and probably I will step in the ring there the first time. At the moment I really enjoy building her up in daily training, this is really a lot of fun."

When asked if the plan is to sell this mare too, Anna replied, "at the moment we don’t plan to sell her, but of course as i decided to become a professional rider and do this for living at some point I will have to sell… but maybe first Sam as a schoolmaster probably."