I’m Adiah HP, and You’d Be Smart to Remember My Name

Hi, my name is Adiah HP, and if you don’t know who I am, shame on you. I’m part Friesian, part Dutch Warmblood, and 100 percent fabulous.

I recently won the U.S. Dressage Finals Grand Prix Open Freestyle Championship for the second year in a row with my rider, best pal, and confidant, James Koford. I’m lucky enough to have a large family full of loving humans, and even though there are multiple people I consider to be my “parents”, I’ll refer to Jim as “Dad” for the rest of this conversation.

Mornings come all too quickly for me, and unlike the other residents of my barn, I can’t say I’m ever all that excited about my breakfast. I get steamed hay at 7 a.m. followed by the most boring grain on the market. “If I were her, I would be a little peeved because she’s on a low-carb, organic, non-GMO, non-soy diet, so she’d probably be complaining about how she has such crazy parents,” Dad says. Uh, yeah dude! Would it kill you to give me some molasses every now and then?

Photo by Taylor Pence/US Equestrian.

After I finish eating, I usually take a mid-morning nap. “Getting up and at ‘em is really not her thing,” Dad says about me. “She likes to sort of lay about on the couch and sort of watch the goings on. She looks like she’s been out clubbing all night because she has hay in her hair and she’s just sort of bleary-eyed in the morning.” Let’s put it this way: if I were a human, I’d have one of those tacky mugs that says, “Don’t Talk to Me Until I’ve Had my Coffee”.

Luckily, Dad respects my schedule and lets me hit snooze. He usually arrives mid-morning and we go for a ride. “She just wants to go to the ring and practice her dance moves. She’s very serious about practicing.” Dad's right – I’m known for my expressive piaffe, and I just love showing it off. “Sometimes, I’m a little bit of a buzzkill because she really wants to do her big moves all the time and I have to make her do the pirouettes and the one-tempis, which aren’t her favorite.” But I’ll do them when it counts, which is in front of an adoring crowd.

Speaking of adoring crowds: I never tire of interaction with the human species. They are so enamored with my striking spots and my fabulous hair and, let’s be honest, why shouldn’t they be? I’m kind of a big deal. I have a fabulous spot in the barn that everyone has to walk past to get to the crossties, and that suits me juuuuust fine.

“There are lots of kids [at the barn] that love her because they say she’s Internet famous, so she gets a crazy amount of attention and petting and selfies,” Dad says. “It’s hilarious.” It’s no different at shows – I really shine during the night classes and I feed off the energy in the stands. “She has no desire to do anything [early], but she really lights up in the evening.”

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I may not fit the “typical dressage horse” mold, but who cares? According to my dad, “She loves herself. She is not a bit self-conscious about who she is. I feel like I’m on 'Dance Moms' or something with her because she has such a big opinion of herself.”

Some might even compare me to Kim Kardashian, but she wishes she could have a hind end like mine. Although I was born fabulous, I have to thank Dad for really drawing out my star power and embracing all that I am. “We’re best buds. We love to hang out, love to go to shows together,” he says. “She and I get on really well.” I really do love dancing with him every day, and I love that he works around my schedule. I’m the queen, after all!

Well, it’s about time for me to hit the hay again. I need to rest up so I can keep working on my beach bod! “These hips don’t lie. She looks good.” Damn right, I do.

Photo by Taylor Pence/US Equestrian.

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Feature photo by Taylor Pence/US Equestrian.