Hard-won insight on building, buying, and breeding in the western performance horse industry — straight from the advisors who’ve done it.
June 12, 2026
It’s not who you know — it’s what you deliver. Chelsea Shaffer on what marketing actually means in the equine industry: broad channels, real data, authentic voice, and accountable delivery.
June 11, 2026
Ten years in, you’ve got a barn full of horses, clients calling at all hours and paying six months late — and you’re left wondering what you’re doing with your life. The honest mirror, finding your lane, stall math, roster audits, and the closed-door counsel that fixes what wet saddle blankets can’t.
June 11, 2026
Talent isn’t the problem — access is. How the industry’s call list actually works, which jobs compound, the real careers the industry has finally built — real money, real benefits — and the degree Melanie actually recommends.
June 11, 2026
Every newcomer to the performance horse business pays for an education — to a mentor, or to the market. Why the call usually comes two years too late, why there’s no blue book for a horse, and the two disciplines that keep you in the business: written goals and one trusted voice.
June 11, 2026
Double down or wind down. Buy the facility or keep hauling. Stand the stallion or sell while the name is hot. How to pressure-test the biggest decision your program has faced — with counsel, not hindsight.
June 11, 2026
How modern equine reproduction actually works — ET, ICSI, recipient mares, and the planning calendar — explained by the team running one of the world’s largest repro operations.
June 11, 2026
The yearling year decides whether you sell a prospect or an excuse. Development, fitting, and matching each yearling to the right sale — Solo Select’s own sales, Western Bloodstock, Old West, or the racing rings.
The thinking behind these articles happens out loud — advisors around the table at the Solo Select studio, talking through the industry as it moves. The best of it lands on this page.