The decisions that shape a western performance horse program—which stallion, which deal, which direction—have always moved through a private circle of people who already knew each other.
Today, Solo Select Advisory opens that circle: one-on-one access to the world champions, AQHA and NCHA hall-of-famers, leading breeders and top buyers who once took only private calls. Anyone willing to book an hour can now sit across from them.
Clients browse the advisor roster, choose a specialist and book a single, confidential session. Most take place by video; select advisors are available on-site. The roster spans more than a dozen of the industry’s most respected names and more than 200 years of combined experience across reining, cutting, cow horse, rope horse, racing, breeding, facility design, marketing, law and the business of building a program. Equine and business attorneys round out the roster, so a client can pressure-test a deal with a top horseman and a lawyer in the same week.
The counsel is not limited to what happens in the arena. Advisors also work in brand and media strategy, marketing, scaling and operations—the reputation and business management that now travels with every top horseman.
“For decades, the best advice in this business traveled through a closed circle, and if you weren’t in it, you paid for your education the hard way, in expensive mistakes,” said Melanie Smith, who founded the firm. “One honest hour with someone who has already built what you’re trying to build can change the course of a program, a career, even a family operation.”
The firm is built first for participants facing a decision they cannot afford to get wrong—the newcomer with means but not years, the owner weighing a six-figure prospect.
“I’ve watched people lose more on one wrong horse than a lifetime of good advice would ever cost,” said Ty Smith, co-owner and one of the most active buyers and sellers of western performance horses in the world. “We give them the chance to run the deal, the horse or the whole program past someone who has made that call at the highest level—before the check clears.”
A portion of every dollar spent with the firm funds its Legacy Fund, which pays for advisory sessions and industry programs for young people who have the drive but not the connections or the means.
“Talent shows up everywhere. Access does not. We intend to fix that,” Smith said.
“I had people in my corner who shortened my learning curve by years, and not everybody gets that,” said Trevor Brazile, the most decorated cowboy in professional rodeo history with 26 world championships. “This is a way to be that voice for someone else.”
Solo Select Advisory is open now at advisory.soloselect.com.