The Ambassadors of The Western Thoroughbred are exceptional horsemen and horsewomen. They have diverse equestrian backgrounds but share a passion for Thoroughbreds. Ambassadors ride and train Thoroughbreds while upholding our mission to
Meet Our Ambassadors
Melanie McKay lives in Kansas with her husband, son, and herd of barrel racing horses. She began barrel racing in 4-H as a child and now competes in rodeos and barrel races across the Midwest. Melanie serves as a district director in the National Barrel Horse Association and offers training services for horses and riders as part of 2M Equine with her husband. She is a nine-time qualifier to the Interstates Rodeo Association Finals, a two-time United Rodeo Association Finals qualifier, nine-time NBHA district 1D champion, two-time Kansas NBHA reserve champion, and was the 2017 URA Finals champion. She currently rides two OTTB mares – Hope N Wishes and Buca Sarabi. Hope N Wishes is her main rodeo horse and placed in two rounds and the average at the 2024 IRA Finals Rodeo.
You can follow Melanie on Instagram at @mckay.melanieg of on Facebook at 2M Equine.
McKenzieMae Brown is a barrel racer from Washington with two horses. Two red geldings to be specific – Royal and Rocket. She grew up in a non-horsey family and it took years of begging and pleading before her family finally allowed her to start taking riding lessons. It snowballed from there! She started lessons at ten and got her first horse at thirteen. She started with 4-H and later became hooked on barrel racing! Now, she has competed in local rodeos and races all over the Pacific Northwest.
McKenzie had always ridden Quarter Horses until early in the spring of 2024 when she found out her main horse Royal needed a full year off from riding. She didn’t want to spend an entire year without a horse to ride, so while Royal was recuperating she decided to look for another horse – the first horse she’d purchase by herself! She looked at all sorts of horses but the one that stood out the most was an OTTB named Smokin Ken. She just really connected with him. She brought him home a week after meeting him and the rest is history! After a year of rehab and training, they are gearing up for their first barrel race and she’s so excited to compete with him this summer!
You can follow McKenzie on Instagram at @mckenzie_mae02. She posts a ton of great content on retraining her OTTB for barrels!
Loralyn DiMuro Thomas is from Western New York. Her mother was an accomplished fox hunter rider. Loralyn started riding when she was four years old and got her first Hunter pony when she was seven. She showed the rated hunter circuit until she was twelve and then started showing all-around at Quarter Horse and Appaloosa breed shows.
Her family later moved to North Carolina. They owned Obvious Debutante, a very accomplished Appaloosa mare. Loralyn and Obvious Debutante were seven-time National ACAAP Champions and obtained their Versatility in 2008. In addition to showing Quarter Horses and Appaloosas, Loralyn also had the opportunity to show Plantation Walking Horses in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. She also worked at a local show barn.
Loralyn started her business, “Team Loralyn,” in 2012. She specializes in Open, All Breed and Hunter shows. She purchased a Quarter Horse mare, Low Ridin Diva, and competed in local reining and ranch riding classes. She has had her Thoroughbred gelding, Knight Court, since she started her business. Knight jumped at local and rated Hunter shows until 2022. Loralyn and Knight have since shifted their focus to ranch riding.
Loralyn is currently training out of Pepperwood Farm in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. You can follow her on Facebook at Team Loralyn.
Amber-Lynn Jacobson lives in southern Alberta. She has a variety of horses but her Thoroughbreds are her favorites. Amber is a Thoroughbred racehorse breeder, as well as a colt starter and trainer. She started working in the racing industry through the Professional Racetrack Groom Course at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology. She then shifted her focus to breeding. Amber is also a graduate of the Kentucky Equine Management Internship.
Amber has competed at the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover twice. She won the Ranch Work division both times. Amber has continued to compete in Working Ranch and Ranch Roping events with her Thoroughbred mare Silence is Awesome. She specializes in retraining OTTBs for western disciplines. Amber hopes to have another OTTB for herself again soon!
You can follow Amber on Instagram at @rfthoroughbreds or on Facebook at Silence is Awesome – OTTB makeover challenge!
Amalie Reeves lives Christchurch, New Zealand. Thoroughbreds are regular mounts of the equestrians in the area. Mae grew up around Thoroughbreds and Thoroughbred crosses. She has been riding for nearly two decades. Mae competes in Eventing during the winter and spends the summer months competing on the South Island rodeo circuit. Her Thoroughbred mare Nellie, more affectionately known as “Big Orange,” has been her partner for three years now. The pair initially competed in Eventing only, but Mae later decided to start Nellie on the barrel pattern and the rest is history! Mae has always loved the willingness of a Thoroughbred. She appreciates that they try so hard to do whatever is asked of them. Mae and Big Orange have been busy Eventing almost every weekend. We look forward to seeing them in the rodeo arena again soon! You can follow Mae on Instagram at @maereeves_42.
Chelsey O’Brien has been an Ambassador for The Western Thoroughbred since 2016! She currently resides in Northern Virginia with her three OTTBs. She is a first generation horsewoman that has been riding for 26 years. She grew up doing the hunters, jumpers and equitation, and found a passion for western discipline events during her late teens. She has been restarting Thoroughbreds off the track since the early 2000s in English and western disciplines. She has also worked with Thoroughbreds in many different capacities throughout her professional career, from breeding and foaling, prepping for sales, rehabbing injuries/surgeries, layups, restarting, retraining, and rehoming.
Chelsey has competed in team penning, team sorting, rodeos, super shows and local barrel races with several of her Thoroughbreds. Her hope is to dabble in some more western dressage and ranch horse classes this year, as well as compete at some barrel races with her personal horses, Tomo Nights and Beatle Boots.
You can follow Chelsey on Instagram at @seekayohbee.
Jessica Gilbert lives in Washington with a small herd of OTTBs. She started riding in high school and competed in pleasure events on her Arabian gelding. After high school, Jessica decided to switch to speed events and was hooked. That decision led her to her first job in the Thoroughbred industry at a training facility. She ended up spending the next twelve years on the racetrack in various roles which included grooming, ponying, exercising, and riding races as a professional jockey. Jessica won over 100 races including multiple stakes races before ending her race-riding career. All the OTTBs that she owns today were once mounts she had in races except Cowboy Swagger, but Jessica has a lot of history with the handsome bay and even rode his dam. You can follow Jessica and “Swaggs” on Instagram at @star_g_barrel_horses and @cowboyswaggerottb as the compete at barrel races across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Kaytie Henricks lives in the Willamette Valley, a region of the Pacific Northwest that is famous for its wine and mountain views. She began showing horses at a young age, but was more interested in gymkhana events and eventually moved onto barrel racing and rodeo. Having always been obsessed with racehorses, it was a dream of Kaytie’s to turn a racehorse into a barrel horse. In 2015, she made that dream a reality when she purchased Tychonic Choice off the track. Kaytie and Tychonic Choice, aka “Sosi,” got serious about competing in 2017. A few years later, the pair place consistently in the 2D and 3D across the Pacific Northwest and have some top ten rodeo placings. Kaytie also owns four other OTTBs – Infantry Star, Stormin’ Bubsy, Takis Choice and Uncle Yo. Kaytie works hard to bring awareness to the outstanding abilities of Thoroughbred horses. You can follow her on Instagram at @kaytiehenricks.
Elisha Zellner lives in Bend, Oregon. Office manager at Back In Action Fitness Equipment and owner of Back In Action Equine offering therapy treatments with her Sports Innovations 3-1 blanket and leg wraps. A unique combination of PEMF, massage and heat. Elisha grew up in the 4-H horse program and showing park saddle seat Morgan horses as a youth competitor. Later she was a 4-H leader and high school equestrian coach for over 10 years. She also judged many local pacific northwest schooling shows in the 90’s. She has raised two daughters the oldest showed AQHA pleasure horses and the youngest competed in NYRA youth rodeos this is where the passion for barrel racing began. Elisha now competes in barrel racing with her OTTB Big Sky Vatti “ Skyler” that she purchased in April 2018 with no barrel training or experience. They travel the northwest competing in OBRA, BSCC, Brn4d sanction jackpots and NPRA rodeos. She most recently won the OBRA 2500 novice year end and 2500 novice average saddles at finals for 2019 season . She was also the Reserve champion senior rider for 2019 in Brn4d Oregon. Elisha just purchased another OTTB My Pal Sully in February 2019 at the closer of Portland Meadows racetrack. She hopes to season him this year and introduce him to the barrel pattern. She has high hopes that he will show the talent and heart of an OTTB champion just as Skyler did. Elisha loves the underdogs and enjoys showing and amazing people with the talents of the thoroughbred breed.
Marcella Gruchalak is a Pennsylvania cowgirl that contributes many of her successes in mounted shooting to her OTTB, Funny Bunny B., aka “Buns.” Marcella originally bought Buns as a resale project for the 2017 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover. She was sure that she would sell the chestnut OTTB gelding at the Makeover as he was not what she thought she wanted in a forever mount. However, while working with him, she realized he was a once in a lifetime horse that truly embodied the special characteristics of the Thoroughbred breed. When the time came to list him with the Thoroughbred Makeover, Marcella declined. Over the years, the two moved up the ranks in the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association from Ladies Level 1 to Ladies Level 4, earning many titles and accolades in the sport.
When she isn’t competing in mounted shooting, Marcella likes to pack up the trailer and take her horses on trail riding trips. She likes trail riding to decompress herself and her horses from the high demand of competition. She’s enjoyed trails and campgrounds in many different states but her favorite trip was to Love Valley, North Carolina.
Marcella’s biggest goal is to continue enjoying her horses and to become a better horsewoman with each ride. Winning at competitions is fun, but the moments that taught her the most were those were she was faced with difficulties or miscommunications in the practice arena. She continues to enjoy the humbling experience of riding horses and hopes to always be expanding her knowledge and skillset – a true horsewoman!
You can follow Marcella on Instagram at @_gru_crew_.
Mallory Cortes is from Acton, California. She grew up riding horses and started competing in Gymkhana events when she was just seven years old. Since she started competing in barrel racing at age thirteen, she has earned multiple championships, reserve championships, and four qualifications to the NBHA World Championships.
Mallory’s OTTB mare Heavens Eagle, aka “Sriracha,” was too slow to make a start at the track. Mallory trained Sriracha for barrel racing and they accomplished a lot together. They were the Pacific Coast Barrel Racing Association reserve champions in 2017 and champions in 2020. Mallory’s daughter, Kayla, is running Sriracha now.
Mallory has acquired two more OTTBs since Sriracha – Exotic Paradise, aka “Kona,” and Paradise Forever, aka “Kody.” Mallory and Kona had a great year competing in barrel racing. Mallory plans to buy her WPRA permit and compete at rodeos with her OTTBs this season!
When Mallory isn’t training or competing, she is teaching young girls the basics of horsemanship and barrel racing. As wife and mother of two, Mallory knows the importance of inspiring children to dream. She wants to help many young barrel racers reach for the stars. You can follow Mallory on Instagram at @mcortes87.
Jenn Laurich is a 25 year old rider from Charlotte North Carolina. She has a background in customer service and business and works for an international protective packaging business full time. For as long as she can remember she always had a love for horses and always gravitated towards the thoroughbred during her riding career. She rode hunters for 9 years before switching to the western discipline after she began her partnership with her current horse, Aramis. Aramis, JC “Gypsy King”, is a 16.2 hand thoroughbred out of Fantasticat by Stormcat. They currently are training and fine tuning the basics of Western Dressage. Jenn enjoys the functionality of dressage as well as its usefulness and application for a real working scenario. Her goal is to transform Aramis into an exceptional ranch and bridle horse and begin showing him in 2020.
Alana Pickrell is from Ontario, Canada. She’s been riding horses since she was 4 years old, but mostly on APHA or AQHA. For her 20th birthday she bought herself her first ever horse on her own and first ever OTTB. Every since then she was a goner. She fell in love with their work ethic, grit and need to please that OTTB horses bring to every ride. Fast forward and she’s now on her second OTTB. Although some people think she’s crazy, and there are days she wishes she had a less head strong partner, she’s forever grateful that her riding career finally led her to these athletes.
DeAnn Long Sloan of Pittsburgh, PA, spent the early years of her career in Education, both as a high school teacher and in academia. Currently, she is the Managing Editor of HorseNation.com and is a certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist. She owns Rustbelt Equine, LLC, which focuses on equine performance therapy. DeAnn has been a lover of Thoroughbreds for as long as she can remember. She has always loved the look of them — they are bred to be athletes and it’s apparent in their builds and how they carry themselves. However, her career with horses did not begin with Thoroughbreds. When it came time to buy herself her first horse as an adult, she went with the safe choice: a middle-aged Quarter Horse. But after observing a friend acquire and retrain a number of off-track Thoroughbreds as resale projects, her love of the breed resurfaced due to their work ethics, intelligence, and train-ability. She decided to get her own and, since then, she has been hooked. Her current horse is Rightful Goddess (aka “Mac”), a 2014 filly by Parading and out of Valid Goddess (by Valid Appeal). DeAnn describes her as “quiet, easy going, and having all the makings of a great packer.” DeAnn and Mac have begun competing in Cowboy Mounted Shooting and look forward to a long career together.
Kayla Zielke is from Pincher Creek, Alberta. Kayla has been around horses her whole life. She owns and operates Eclipse Equine and specializes in colt starting, massage therapy and barefoot trimming. She started out open showing in lead line and peewees but by the age of 7 it was time to just go fast. She won several junior high points and junior rodeos throughout her youth years. She started training horses at 13 and that was when she first found OTTBs. In fall 2013 Image This came into her life after being a reject endurance horse. After just being a pleasure horse for 2 years it was decided to start Image on barrels and she took to it very quickly. Since being started on barrels in 2016 she has had multiple 2D and 3D placings. Image has also shown her versatility open showing and placing in reining, showmanship and excelling at pole bending. Image sparked a passion for retraining OTTBs and since then Kayla has trained and sold half a dozen OTTBs and is excited for more in the future. Kaylas next step is to hopefully compete at the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover in 2020 with Graces Little Lady.
Ashlee Wolf, 26 years old, is based in WA state. She travels between racetracks frequently. She’s an ex jockey, exercise rider and pony person. Ashlee’s background in horses is lifelong even though she has changed disciplines several times. As a pony person and a barrel racer her horse of choice is an OTTB! One of her two geldings is Powerized, a Keeneland sale graduate who is now a pony and out-riding horse. Her other is the warhorse Fishinkonablue. Fish spent his years with Ashlee doing a bit of cross training while he was racing he was also barrel racing, trail riding and ponying on occasion. Ashlee’s next big goal is to attend the Retired Racehorse Project!
The Western Thoroughbred 