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More about Melissa

I have a passion for helping riders become their very best! I love education and problem solving across multiple disciplines. I started my riding career at a hunter/jumper barn in southeastern Pennsylvania. It all started at summer horseback riding camp when I was six years old with a tall gangly bay gelding named Smudge.

From that moment on I was hooked on horses and loved riding. I spent every waking moment at the barn mucking stalls, grooming and feeding horses, warming up horses for training rides…all to save up money for a horse of my own. When I turned 14 years old I had saved enough money to buy a horse from the kill pen. A beautiful 14.3 hand palomino gelding named Chris that no one wanted because of his intense bucking maneuvers!

Fast forward a few years. I graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2009. During my time in college, I, and my now husband, Forrest, established the USAFA rodeo team. We competed in intercollegiate rodeos across Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Forrest and I competed together in team roping. I also competed in barrel racing.

Rodeo events were new to me when I started at USAFA, but before long I applied the fundamental principles from English riding to prove successful in the rodeo arena. The most challenging aspect of rodeo for me was the fast-paced nature of the events. You only have 15 seconds for a barrel run and under 10 seconds for a competitive team roping round. I started incorporating sports psychology skill development to deal with the pressure and improve my performance in rodeos.

Upon graduation I started my career as an Air Force intelligence officer. Throughout my career I have led large organizations comprised of over 700 personnel. I quickly recognized I could apply the leadership lessons from training horses to generate unique methods to solve leadership challenges at work. For example, by showing extreme empathy and imagining what the horse is feeling and thinking. This same approach can be applied to a supervisor who keeps saying ‘No’ to initiatives or a troubled airman. I found this approach to be a game changer in my pursuit of authentic leadership. And I achieved enough success verbalizing this method that it sparked my interest in finding a better way to share the lessons I had learned.

Meanwhile on the horseback riding front, I started riding a retired Grand Prix jumper named Ducati. My family and I moved from Texas to Alabama to Virginia and then to Aiken, South Carolina. Aiken is a community that is obsessed with horses. While in Aiken, my daughter Layna and I caught the Eventing bug! We started competing at the pristine venues Aiken had to offer and loved the horse community.

I realized my pre-teen daughter needed ways to understand why she felt so much pressure at horse trials and shows. We often default to thinking something is wrong with us instead of recognizing this is how our brains are wired for survival. I tried to help, but I noticed my attempts fell flat and were too difficult to remember under pressure. So I started searching for a program that would support a rider’s mental skill development. Many sports psychology programs support sports in general rather than the rider specifically. As a rider, I’m sure you know that riding presents different sorts of pressures than other sports.

During my search, I found Daniel Stewart and his Pressure Proof Academy program. I started working with Daniel Stewart and completed his coaching certification in November 2022. From there I started working with clients helping them better handle pressure in their riding. And of course, I coach her daughter, who is now 14 years old and competing at Training level, using Pressure Proofing techniques.

I love helping riders achieve their very best rides by teaching the skills to deal with pressure. I will support your Pressure Proof skill development at every stage and age from 9 years old to adult. I especially love working with pre-teens and teenagers to unleash positive thinking.

I currently live with my family in Larkspur, Colorado on our own private 40-acre ranch. When I’m not working with horses, I serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, currently pursuing my PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Computer Science and Cognitive Science. I hope to use what I learn to improve military service member resiliency against disinformation on media platforms.

–Melissa McLain