Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A local young equestrian’s riding adventures are now taking her to the national stage.

9-year-old Olivia Alflen of Pinckney is a 3rd grader at Navigator Elementary who has qualified to compete at The Morgan Horse National Horse show in Oklahoma next month.

Olivia’s mother, Heather Alflen, says her daughter started riding when she was around 2 ½ years old as they had a little miniature horse. Olivia started taking lessons when she was almost 5-years-old and took to it really well. After she was riding and taking lessons, Heather Alflen said they decided to try showing.

Alflen said when Olivia was 7, it marked her first time in a ring on a horse by herself and “she went in and just took off…did phenomenal”. She said they started leasing a horse and this year was Olivia’s first full year showing. Alflen told WHMI her daughter won everything during her first show of the season and qualified for nationals, so it’s been a pretty cool summer watching her show and do what she loves – adding it’s kind of big news for a small town.

Alflen said her daughter works really hard, is very committed, and rides 3-4 days a week. She said Olivia has been fundraising all summer long to make it to the nationals because it’s pretty expensive. Olivia has done bottle drives, a bake sale, sold candy bars, and operated lemonade stands all summer at different locations.

Alflen said she honestly didn’t expect her daughter to take off and get to this level so quickly and fundraising can be difficult when it’s a singular sport – because it’s just her daughter and her horse. She stressed that fundraising is just as important for individual sports as it is for teams and some people have questioned the need for donations. Alflen said this is the sport her daughter chose and she wishes there wasn’t as much backlash when it comes to donating to individual sports versus teams.

The 2024 Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show takes place
October 5th through 12th at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City and people come from all over the country. Alflen said Olivia is super excited but also a little nervous because it’s a big stage with thousands of people that will be in attendance.

Olivia will be competing in her age division - which is 9 and under. The horse she’s been showing is named Stonecroft Neoclassic GCH – or Neo for short - a 21-year-old Morgan horse.

Potential sponsors or anyone interested in making monetary or bottle donations can email Heather at Heatheralflen@yahoo.com or contact her store, Wild Indoors Pet Supplies in Pinckney, at 810-231-9020.