By Jessica Grutkowski
Portraits by Kristie Scholten
Ellie Goodfriend is an experienced Junior rider and fierce competitor in the show ring, with many blue ribbons under her belt. But many people don’t know about the quiet battle Ellie recently fought and won outside of the ring to end years of mystery seizures that threatened to destroy her dreams and her trademark personality.
In February 2025, Ellie competed in her first International Derby at the Texas Winter Series—a huge milestone to achieve at such a young age—in the midst of a successful winter circuit in Florida. It’s hard to believe that only one year earlier, Ellie was recovering from brain surgery.
Growing up in California, Ellie discovered her passion for horses when her older sister was prescribed equine therapy at a local barn. “My sister walked very late, and our pediatrician thought riding would help her develop better balance and muscle tone,” Ellie said. “To my mother’s dismay, we didn’t want to just watch, and suddenly she had a family of riders.”
The therapy worked, and Ellie and her siblings continued taking lessons. When she was 7 years old, her family moved to Rhode Island to be closer to her maternal grandparents. “We had a pony named Brownie that we all shared,” Ellie said. “I loved every moment being at the barn. I learned to jump crossrails and started going to local horse shows.”
Ellie is the youngest of four siblings—two sisters and a brother—and is the most dedicated equestrian in the family. “I began to show on the A-circuit at venues like Fieldstone Show Park and Vermont Summer Festival,” she said. “Unfortunately, that’s when my health issues began. I had my first seizure, but the doctors said it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. That was a scary notion.”
Her family was worried. “The doctors said I wasn’t considered epileptic until I had had three seizures,” she said. Unfortunately, Ellie’s condition worsened, and it didn’t take long to exceed that threshold. “They would come in spurts. I would have a few, then it would be nine months before I had another,” Ellie said.
All of the initial tests were inconclusive, and the lack of information produced anxiety. “No one in my family had epilepsy,” Ellie said. “It didn’t make sense why this was happening to me.” Ellie was finally prescribed medication to tame the seizures, but it came with terrible side effects. “I traded one issue for another, but at least I got to ride,” she said. “I experienced terrible mood swings and didn’t feel like myself. It was horrible.”
Ellie returned to the show ring; all the while they continued to search for answers. “I had this pit in my stomach, wondering if another seizure was going to happen at any moment,” she said. “Even though they mostly occur at night, we joked that I was probably safer in my helmet!”
The doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital conducted additional tests that revealed Ellie’s seizures began in her right hand. What felt like a tingle was actually a small seizure. “I only felt that once while riding and immediately dismounted. Thankfully, it didn’t turn into a full seizure,” Ellie said. The doctors felt like they had enough data to pursue a more aggressive approach: brain surgery.
Putting Faith in the Unknown
In the fall of 2023, Ellie was doing her best to march forward. Little did she know that the scariest moments of her life would put her on the path toward a bright future. “It was a crazy time; I was dealing with a ton of change,” she said. “Due to everything going on, I left high school and moved online. I was searching for a new horse and facing brain surgery in a few months. It was a lot to swallow.”
To ease the process of selling Ellie’s horse, their trainer from California introduced Ellie to Colleen Brombach, owner of Silver Fox Farms, a family-run professional hunter-jumper program based in Wimberly, Texas. “I instantly clicked with Colleen and her daughters, Brooke and McKayla,” Ellie said. Soon Ellie was on the road meeting the Silver Fox team at horse shows, mainly in Texas. “I finally had some normalcy, and it felt great,” she said. Following in the footsteps of her older sister Brooke—who recently graduated and now works as a professional with her mother at Silver Fox Farms—McKayla rides on the Texas A&M University D1 Equestrian Team.
Fast forward to February 2024, when Ellie had to trade the excitement of life on the road for her new reality—becoming a resident at Boston Children’s Hospital. The doctors surgically implanted electrodes deep in her brain to help pinpoint the origin of her seizures. “The two weeks of round-the-clock testing revealed that I had a stroke when I was born,” she said. “When the electrodes fired on the damaged tissue from the stroke, it caused a seizure. My surgery removed that piece of tissue in my left parietal lobe.”
Originally, the surgical plan called for a laser, but it ended up being more invasive. “I knew the recovery would be more intensive, but I was eager to get back in the saddle.”
Wish Granted
After one night in the ICU, Ellie was wheeled into a room with another patient recovering from brain surgery. “He was three weeks ahead of me in his recovery, and had constant visitors,” she said. “I couldn’t take the noise, light and activity, so the doctors allowed me to recover at home. I was happy to be out of the hospital.”
Ellie traded her hospital bed for the comfort of home, but it wasn’t an easy road. “I had to wait two weeks to shower, and four weeks to leave the house,” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to do any sort of exercise for at least six weeks.”
Exactly five weeks and five days post-surgery, Ellie headed to Florida to see her barn family. “Colleen and my mom warned me not to be stupid, but I was determined not to miss another season,” she said. As she had surmised, riding came back to Ellie naturally, and she had the opportunity to show some of Silver Fox Farm’s sales horses. “I had some trials to find my next mount and refused to lose the opportunity, so we agreed that McKayla would sit on each one first. Once she approved them, I would get in the saddle.”
Ellie didn’t end up finding her heart horse that week. A few weeks later, she tried horses at the Great Southwest Fiesta Classic and fell in love with a dark bay gelding named Kallahan Z, aka Muffin. “At first I was hesitant since he was new to everything—and that it would take time— but I trusted Colleen and now he’s everything I’ve ever dreamed about in a horse,” she said. “He is totally me, but the horse version. He loves his friends and is very animated. He can be a little anxious about certain things, but once he’s in the ring, he’ll never put a foot wrong.”
When Muffin came into Ellie’s life, he had only competed at one show in the United States. “Muffin is still developing, but he has a bright future,” she said. “I ended up doing a monthly lease for some of the bigger equitation classes in Traverse City that summer and brought Muffin to continue his American education.”
In July 2024, Ellie, Brooke and Colleen were browsing an online horse auction during some downtime at the Kentucky Summer Festival. “Colleen and I locked in on a grey dappled gelding named Ton Amie, a 2019 Belgian Warmblood,” Ellie said. “We bid on him and won.”
A New Friend
Soon after, Ton Amie Van Spieveld, aka Tommy, arrived in Kentucky seemingly unphased by his new life in America. “Tommy was so chill. He had an auto lead change, and didn’t care about anything,” Ellie said. “After a month, he settled into his new job as an equitation horse and began his show career.”
With finals season approaching, Ellie was excited to have her health, two amazing horses and the support of her barn family. “I was back in Texas for NHS Regionals when Muffin overheated,” Ellie said. “He fully recovered, but we scratched to be safe. We let Tommy step up to pinch hit in the equitation and he swept the 12-14 division.” Elated with her young horse’s performance, Ellie decided to ride Tommy in the Regional Hamel Finals. “He was amazing but had a few green moments to keep us from the ribbons. But wow, he showed so much promise.”
The team continued onward to Upper Marlboro, Maryland, for both weeks of Capital Challenge. Ellie brought Muffin to compete in the equitation and Junior Hunters, as well as Tommy, but mainly just for the experience. “We had no expectations; he was along for a field trip,” Ellie said.
When hunter week came along, Ellie and Colleen decided to submit Muffin and Tommy for the WCHR Pro Challenge Class. “Out of 12 entries, only four horses were accepted, including our boys,” Ellie said. “It was surreal watching Nick Haness, Amanda Steege, Scott Stewart and Geoffrey Hesslink take turns riding Muffin and Tommy in the WCHR Pro Challenge Class. It was even crazier that Tommy won the Perpetual Trophy as the highest-scoring horse—and also the youngest—at his first indoor final.”
When Friends Become Family
Living on the road is quite common for serious young equestrians and Ellie enjoys the experience with Colleen. “She’s truly an amazing human being and I am so grateful for all of her support,” Ellie said. “I hope to ride D1 in college too, and know I am in the best hands to achieve that goal.”
Colleen appreciates Ellie’s good work ethic. “She’s a good kid with a big heart, and she definitely isn’t afraid of hard work,” she said. “Ellie will jump in to help the beginner riders tack up and teach them horsemanship. Whenever she isn’t riding, you can find her helping our grooms.”
When the Silver Fox Farm team went to Kentucky for the National Horse Show, Ellie didn’t compete at finals but was happy to groom for barn mates. “I was the designated cheerleader and videographer,” she said. “It’s so much fun to be at finals and see all my friends—even if I’m not competing.”
In December, the horses had a vacation and Ellie had a “family reunion” with her mom and sister, and Silver Fox Farm family, when they went on a cruise. “I see my parents as much as possible, but their jobs are back in California,” Ellie said. “I’m lucky to be healthy, and able to do what I love.”
With her health on her side, Ellie hopes to make the most of her time in the saddle this season. Ellie is only a sophomore in high school, so she still has several Junior years to achieve her goals. “I want to be consistent in the show ring, and hopefully qualify Muffin for indoors,” she said.
She’s already off to a great start after earning top honors at the Pin Oak Charity Show, an annual three-week event that benefits Texas Children’s Hospital. Last year Ellie was unable to attend due to her surgery, but she made up for lost time by piloting Muffin to the win in the $15,000 USHJA National Derby with a pair of 94s for a total of 188 points. They also earned 3’6” Junior Hunter Grand Champion. “I’m still on cloud nine,” she said. “We earned the Waterman Trophy, and ‘Best Child Rider’ award.”
Ellie and Tommy are also well on their way to qualifying for finals later this year. “It will be both of our first years doing the Big Eq, so most importantly, I want him to have a good experience,” she said. “I would love to qualify for Maclay, NCEA, WIHS and Jumpseat Finals, but nothing is set in stone. I am just so grateful to have two amazing horses who always jump their hearts out, and such a supportive team behind me.”
Follow Ellie on Instagram @ellie.goodfriend.eq
Photos by Kristie Scholten, kristiescholten.com
