Wellington, Fla. – April 20, 2022 – M. Michael Meller was not “to the manor born,” but his impressive career has been an exercise in helping horses and people become “to the manor bred.”
When he was young, Michael had a passion to be around horses, and he had to be resourceful in order to feed that passion. Resourcefulness is still a way of life now that he’s a celebrated professional in the equestrian world – a trainer, owner, and cultivator of equestrian talent (both human and equine) whose charges have graced the winner circles time and time again all over the world. I sat down with him recently for an interview, and he shared the methodology and mindset that’s allowed him to rise – and his horses to soar.
HD: First, could you please talk a bit about your unique program and what makes your sales and your business model so successful? How is it different than others?
MMM: I just come from a different angle. I couldn’t start out buying the best seven- or eight-year-olds in Europe, or anything older than that. In this day and age, with all the emerging markets and emerging countries trying to get teams together, and with the starting of the Global Championship Tour (GCT), it really raised the prices in Europe for the seven- and eight-year-olds – the ones that were jumping 1.40m and higher. Prices went through the roof!
Certain countries were trying to really develop their equestrian program, aiming for the Olympics. And with the help of the GCT, they were able to jump in a lot of 5* grand prix (the highest level). They got the practice, and they went through a lot of horses with that model. So now the younger horses—the two-, three-, four-, five-year-olds—are not being paid as much attention to.
Therefore, if you have a good eye and a good understanding of young horses (and a good understanding of how they should be brought up), you can afford to buy the best of those age groups, and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve had lasting power because I can keep 10 young horses in Europe working their way up. In the U.S., I could probably only have one or two. The real key is that the education is not set up in the United States, nor is it financially feasible to even try to do it…
Read all about lifelong equestrian, M. Michael Meller, and how he found success in the exclusive world of equine training and sales below.
