It is more than her striking black and white Pinto markings that make the Half-Andalusian mare Selwood Park Deneuve stand out in the show ring. A brilliant show horse displaying elegance and strength, she has won multiple national championships and reserves in halter and performance divisions, as well as consecutive International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association (IALHA) High-Point Awards.

“She’s a special horse,” said owner and trainer Gareth Selwood of Elkhorn, Wisconsin “Her mother was very sick before she foaled, so I worried about her as a foal, and now she’s very spoiled. I’m sure nobody else could live with her.”

That shouldn’t be a problem, since he also said that he would never part with her.

“I’ve been offered too much money for her, but she’s not for sale,” he said. “She’s my horse, and I’m never going to sell her. She’s earned her keep. She never has to win another ribbon as far as I’m concerned.”

Deneuve is an incredibly diverse mare, having shown in everything from walk-trot and Western pleasure to hunt seat and driving classes. At the 2006 regional championships, she showed in 39 classes over four days, winning ribbons in every class. This is all the more impressive since Selwood only taught her to drive a month before the competition, and she placed in the driving classes, too.

That same year, Deneuve received three national championship titles, two national reserves and three top-five finishes at the U.S. Nationals, as well as an astounding 11 regional championship wins and seven regional reserve titles. That unprecedented show record also earned Deneuve the honor of being the first Half-Andalusion to accumulate enough points to receive her Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association, winning both the El Premio de Merito and El Premio de Oro in 2006. The accolades reached across the equestrian community with Deneuve recognized as a Horse of Honor by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) for 2006.

In 2009, Deneuve’s impressive show record continued as she was named the national champion in saddle seat equitation 13 & under, the national reserve champion in dressage hack, and national top five in show hack, saddle seat equitation 14-17, country pleasure and half-Andalusion DSHB mare. Her numerous achievements continued and in 2011 she was named theUSEF Region 7 Champion Open & Amateur English Pleasure Horse of the Year.

In just eight years in the show ring, Selwood Park Deneuve won numerous national and reserve championships in halter and performance divisions, as well as consecutive IALHA High Point Awards. Perhaps the nickname "Miss Versatility" is in order, as this pinto mare has garnered one of the most diverse list of champion titles across classes ever seen in the breed. This exceptional mare not only racked up a list of awards an arm's length long, she has become a great ambassador for the breed, showing extensively on the open show circuit and at United States Dressage Federation dressage and sport horse breeding events.

Deneuve is by the stallion State of the Art, one of the only homozygous pinto/Warmblood crosses in the world, making Deneuve a heterozygous mare. Selwood, a leading breeder of Andalusians, and winner of the USEF Silver Stirrup Award for Breeder of the Year and Owner of the Year, said, “What I hope is the recognition of Deneuve will encourage people to see what Andalusians can do for sport horse breeding. “

One of the country’s rarest breeds, each year the IALHA registers only 400 new foals. Deneuve’s impressive legacy can be seen in her foals, many of who are already garnering impressive resumes of their own. There is no doubt that with Deneuve and her talented offspring more people will appreciate what the strongly built but elegant Andalusian has to offer.