Est. 2018

More than 15 years ago, Melanie started on a path that would eventually lead her to incredible success in the horse industry. Over the years, she has sold thousands of horses all over the world, creating great connections with buyers and sellers alike. The slogan for Solo Select Horses is The VERY Best, and Melanie stands firmly behind those words. She is well known for her honesty, integrity, passion and quality stock in the world of Western performance horses.

Melanie Smith is the owner and founder of Solo Select Horses, the full-service operation at the forefront of the horse industry with a focus on performances horses in disciplines ranging from

cutting to roping to racing.

At 31 years old, Smith has piloted the company through groundbreaking growth, including the 2020 creation of The Select Online Sale, which quickly became the leading online sale company for Western Performance Horses. Smith grew up a Wichita Falls, Texas, “town kid,” whose parents did not subscribe to her equine

endeavors. She began volunteering at a therapeutic riding facility at age 10, and she eventually learned to ride—after cleaning a lot of stalls. She worked for a cutting horse trainer in high school before launching a successful riding lesson program through her college years.

MEET THE FOUNDER

MELANIE SMITH

After completing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Smith worked in a Level 2 Trauma Center as an Emergency Room Registered Nurse. At the same time, she was building a successful business selling horses online. After a few years in the nursing field, Smith walked away from all of it. She put enormous faith in the promising horse sales she’d conducted on Facebook, and in doing so, she quit her nursing career. When it came time to close the book on that business, 25-year-old Smith built her business again. This time, she made it The Very Best – and Solo Select Horses began.

Since its 2018 inception, Solo Select Horses has led the industry in online horse sales, bolstered by the timely development of The Select Online Sale, the choice sale platform for more than 700 horses in 2023. Along the way, Solo Select set records for the highest selling horse ever at the Pink Buckle Sale and the highest selling yearling in the history of the NRCHA’s Western Bloodstock Sale. The Select Online Sale also sold the highest-selling horse ever in the history of online sales in the fall of 2023 when MS Baby Cakes sold for $540,000, and it holds the record for the highest selling embryo sold at auction in the Western performance horse industry. The year marked a significant growth point for Smith, who championed the purchase of 1,300 recipient mares when Solo Select acquired the herd from Graves Ranch. She did this to support her reproduction business, Select Genes, which brings custom ICSI services to an increasingly invested market. Select Reproduction is now one of the largest recipient mare herds in the world with over 2,000 mares in place.

Stepping out farther into the deep end of the industry, Smith launched her full-service stallion operation as 2023 came to a close, standing leading stallions Pride And Joyy, The Darkk Side, This Catt Shines, Metallic Cattack and Plain Catty.

Alongside Solo Select CEO Ty Smith, she manages a portfolio of real estate, a trucking company, and a number of separate businesses within the equine sector of the brand. Solo Select now offers full-service reproduction services, mare management, sales fitting, and more.