Our Instructors
Melissa Buffington
A lifetime equestrian, Melissa rode competitively as a junior in both the hunter and jumper divisions. Her show experience has included everything from the childrens’ and junior hunters to all levels of jumpers including Grand Prix. Throughout the years, she has been awarded numerous Oklahoma Hunter Jumper Association and Hunter Jumper Exhibitors of Oklahoma championships in equitation, hunter, and jumpers.
Melissa has been training horses and riders since 2001. Her previous experience as a professional in the equestrian industry has included managing a private hunter/jumper/eventing barn in Atlanta, GA, and starting young horses for the prestigious Woodridge Farm (where she also showed the Elite Hanoverian stallion “Arrian”). In 2002, she was selected to tour the country with the Lipizzaner Stallions, where she was a rider in their traveling dressage exhibition.
Her background in elementary education from the University of Tulsa has made Melissa a favorite with her young students. She takes great pride in watching her students develop into thinking horsemen, and she places an emphasis on sportsmanship and horsemanship. Earning many championships and awards, her students compete in all areas of hunters and jumpers. They are consistently successful at the local and regional level, including Zone VII Finals.
In addition to instructing, Melissa specializes in taking the green horse from day one to the show ring. Her young horses are consistently in the top ribbons in their respective divisions, and she has trained the HJEO and OHJA Baby Green Year-End Champions and/or Reserve Champions on multiple occasions. A patient teacher, Melissa employs a classical hunt seat method that builds confidence and creates successful attitudes in both horse and rider.
Linda Keeley
As a trainer of beginning riders for over 30 years, Linda brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and love of horses to share with her students. She instills in her students a solid foundation in the basic principles and practice of riding and horsemanship. It is important for their safety as well as their ability to progress confidently in our sport. Another of Linda's goals is to help new equestrians understand how their horse thinks and behaves, and how to care for them in order to become true horsemen/women and not just riders.
Linda is also a lifetime equestrian, who has ridden western and hunter-jumper but trained and competed primarily in dressage. She is also a charter member of Harvard Fox Hounds and for many years has enjoyed the thrill of riding cross country, jumping and following the hounds. Another of her passions is doing riding safaris in Kenya, seeing the vast beauty of the country and wildlife from the back of a horse, and galloping with wildebeest, antelope, zebras and giraffe, which she has been privileged to do several times.