About Us

My horse adventure began at the tender age of five at summer camp, where while other kids were mastering the art of friendship bracelets, I was bonding with a pony named Peanut Butter. Those early days led me to take lessons at a school barn, where I got to learn everything from grooming to jumping 2 feet! As I started competing in local and A shows, moving from Pony to Children’s Hunters on leased horses, my parents finally realized maybe I wasn't going to "grow out of this horse thing" and agreed to buy me an off-the-track Thoroughbred (brilliant, right?). 

During high school, this wonderful, slightly spicy, horse and I journeyed from local pre-green hunters to small junior hunters and equitation. College brought on the ultimate catch riding experience as I rode for the IHSA team of both Emory and Furman University as well as training several naughty ponies for their kids. I initially thought medical school would spell the end of my riding days, yet I found my way back to the saddle, riding project horses for others and developing a significant appreciation for coffee in the process. Residency was another hurdle that seemed insurmountable for maintaining my riding passion, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. Thanks to the generosity of others, I managed to find horses to ride and participated in lessons over the weekends. These days, as an attending pediatric orthopedic surgeon, horses remain a grounding and joyous part of my life. My horse Vivino, affectionately known as Stella, and I compete near monthly along the east coast in the 1.20-1.25 amateur jumpers. Balancing an academic career with a competition lifestyle certainly has its challenges, but coffee is handy to help energize both work and play! 

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Hi, I'm Melissa's niece Maylee, or "May" as I like to be called these days and I'm the co-owner of the Happy Horse Coffee Co. I have loved horses my entire life! I constantly wanted to visit our neighbor’s horses since I could walk.
My passion for riding horses began at 4 years old when we visited aunt Melissa and she took me to one of her friends' barns and let me ride their horse.

Once I got back home from visiting Aunt Melissa and Uncle Joe, my parents signed me up for horse riding lessons at the local barn. I fell in love right away with English riding. I learned all the basics of riding like cantering, trotting and learning how to jump!

After a couple of years of riding “Moose” I was wanting something more. And before I knew it, I was introduced to the world of BARREL RACING! After my first pattern I was hooked on everything Western. I was being lead in my first race shortly after that. My Uncle Joe could see how much I loved riding barrels and bought me my first horse. We went from Indiana to Texas on spring break to bring home Tripp!
Shortly after we brought Tripp home we noticed him limping. So we took him to the vet and he had a front right flexor tendon tear. I could not compete with him for a whole year and a half because of the tear. After a lot of rehab and conditioning, he is now running better than he has ever ran before! We are competing in local and state barrel racing shows and I even qualified for nationals last year.