Melanie, the blonde haired blue-eyed cowgirl with a big heart grew up much like the rest of us, in small town USA also known as Enumclaw, Washington. As with most girls, Melanie went through a “horse phase” and at 29 years old, she’s still in it. Born a naturally talented rider with a passion for speed, Melanie joined 4H and Washington State Horsemen and had no trouble moving through the classes to prove she was one of the best.

For the past 15 years Melanie has trained and competed on her mare, Lady in WSH, PSHA, EBRA, WBRA and BR4ND now a multiple time 7A rated horse; Lady & Melanie are no strangers to winning.  A few years ago, Melanie picked up a new project, a moody filly named Tina who has also proven to be an amazing partner for Mel. She was just one run short of making Tina a 7A rated horse in 2009 and that was a major goal for her this year. Tina is her “barrel horse” and they have already won several thousand dollars together and a few buckles.

If she isn’t busy riding after working her 9 to 5 you would probably be shocked to know that Melanie even rides horses at all. Mel can usually be spotted driving well below the posted speed limit in her little red sports car heading to the closest Starbucks or a shoe store. On the three weekends a year she isn’t riding her horses, she sometimes goes camping or heads to Mexico for some sunshine. This is where the little things show her natural competitive nature isn’t limited to horses. A camping trip to British Columbia revealed Melanie is actually quite good at the card game Speed, a backyard barbeque displayed her mastery of Ping Pong and while she is a towering 5 feet tall, she’s deceptively fast and proves dynamite comes in small packages every single time she runs a 5 or 10k charity race.

In addition to her love for horses, Melanie has an obsession for HIGH heels, rhinestones and stars. Even better if you can find rhinestone star studded heels. If you do find a pair she takes a size 7.5 so feel free to buy in every color. For those of you who know Mel, you know she’s feisty, sarcastic, driven and generous. You also know she’s less than pleasant to deal with before 9am, regardless of if she has had her coffee. For those of you who don’t know Mel, it isn’t hard to see the big heart in this little cowgirl.