Sheffield Farms, Inc.

Meet our Trainer:  Melissa Blades

Melissa and Capri at Chapital Challenge.

Melissa is our resident Head Trainer and Rider.  She began riding when she was just four years of age.  Melissa's passion is working with talented youngsters.  The young horses love her gentle feel and her soft ride and she works hard to encourage the young prospects to reach their potential. 

As a child rider, Melissa grew up riding a variety of "made" horses but she soon began to branch out.  At a young age, she began to broaden her riding skills by learning how to reeducate green horses coming off the track and start unbroke youngsters.  In addition to working with greenies, Melissa won multiple Junior Hunter Championships, qualified for the Junior Medal/Maclay finals twice and competed at Harrisburg.  Melissa went on to become a top Junior Rider in the Midwest.   

Melissa grew up riding with some wonderful "old school" trainers such as Sari Clipperton, Bobby Dryer and Michael Page.  As a junior, she cared for and turned out her own horses to include undertaking all her own grooming, braiding, lunging, trailering, etc. and she continues to oversee these tasks in great detail at Sheffield Farms. 

Melissa graduated from the University of Findlay in 2011 with a Bachelors in Business Management and Equestrian Studies.  During her years at Findlay, Melissa rode on the ISHA team as an open rider for three years.  She competed for the Cacchione cup two of those years and she went to Nationals as an individual rider all three years.

Melissa also spent time riding in Eschweiler Germany with Helena Stormanns; a seven time Nation Cup rider; for eight months riding young jumpers through 1.50 meters. 

As a young professional, Melissa remains very focused on the importance of continuing to develop her riding skills and build on her base of equestrian knowledge. Since she joined Sheffield Farms in 2015, Melissa has enjoyed the tutelage of Ralph Caristo, Amanda Steege and other helpful professionals in the equestrian community.

All these years of experience and training have provided Melissa with the skills to develop green horses and bring them up the rankings.  Working with youngsters is not only one of Melissa's strong suits, it is one of her greatest passions.  Melissa's keen attention to detail and her ability to get to know every horse individually and determine their specific needs enables her to customize programs for each horse.  We believe this individualism and attention to detail are an important factor in producing quality young hunters and derby horses that are a joy to own and compete.

While at Sheffield Farms, Melissa has qualified and competed young horses at the Kentucky Pre-green finals.  She has also ribboned at Garden State, Old Salem May, Capital Challenge, and the Stal Hendrix Pre-Green Futurity in addition to winning many tri-colors along the way.