Michelle Hunt is an award-winning author, horsewoman, speaker, and Founder of Olive Branch Ranch Ministries (OBRM) in North Carolina together with her husband, Reece, co-founder of OBRM. She has devoted forty-three years as a professional horse trainer, and more than thirty-seven years to coaching equestrians, mentoring families, and helping people discover faith, leadership, purpose, and hope.
Michelle's debut children's book was born at Olive Branch Ranch Ministries, where young visitors quickly fell in love with Thunder, the only miniature horse on the ranch. Because Thunder looked different, the larger horses often rushed his fence with ears pinned and teeth bared. The children became his greatest defenders.
One day, after another horse charged Thunder's fence, a little boy stood with his hands on his hips like a superhero and boldly declared,
"Thunder was once a mighty unicorn. He could take you out if he wanted to... so leave him alone!"
From that day forward, the story of Thunder the Unicorn swept through the ranch. Children who had experienced bullying, rejection, or simply felt different saw a little of themselves in Thunder. What began as a child's imagination became a powerful ministry moment, reminding children that God sees their worth even when others do not. That unforgettable moment inspired Michelle to write Tall Tale–Short Tail, launching the award-winning Thunder the Wonder Horse™ series, now reaching families around the world.
Michelle's love for horses began even before she was born. Her mother rode horses throughout her pregnancy, and Michelle often jokes that she knew the cadence of a horse's hoofbeats before she ever took her first steps. Horses have never simply been something she did. They have always been part of who God created her to be.
Michelle's journey in the show pen began at the age of seven. Since then, she has successfully competed on many different breeds across numerous disciplines, including reining, halter, western pleasure, ranch classes, barrel racing, pole bending, hunter under saddle, team penning, breakaway roping, and team roping, just to name a few.
Over the years, Michelle and her students have earned numerous local, regional, state, national, and international championships. Those accomplishments are not simply awards on a shelf. They are the practical result of principles refined through decades of competition, teaching, studying Scripture, and learning from thousands of horses.
Today, Michelle shares those principles through the H.O.S.S. Code™ (Horsemanship's Overlooked Scriptural Secrets), the biblical foundation upon which Wisdom in the Reins™ is built.
Michelle believes relationship changes everything.
While many training methods begin by simply trying to change the horse through forced movement, Michelle begins with a question:
"Why did the Master Designer create the horse the way He did?"
Rather than beginning with techniques, Wisdom in the Reins™ begins with the Designer Himself. Michelle teaches horse owners to discover what God intentionally wove into the equine that many have simply never been taught to see. By understanding why God chose the horse during pivotal moments throughout Scripture, why He selected the equine to symbolize royalty, strength, humility, service, and heavenly victory, and how horses naturally learn through communication and the release of pressure, horse owners begin seeing both the horse and themselves through a completely different lens.
The result is far more than a better-trained horse.
It is a willing partnership built on trust, understanding, communication, and biblical leadership.
Michelle is currently preparing to return to the competitive arena in team roping, pursuing a World Championship not merely as a personal milestone, but as another opportunity to demonstrate that biblical principles produce measurable results. She believes God created each person with unique gifts and callings, and for her, competition is one of the platforms He has been preparing her to steward for His glory.
Beyond the arena, Michelle continues leading Olive Branch Ranch Ministries while developing a project known as Project Wellspring, a transformational expansion of the ministry designed to become a destination where children and families encounter hope, healing, adventure, purpose, and the love of Christ through unforgettable experiences centered around horses and God's creation.
Whether she is writing children's books, mentoring the next generation, teaching horse owners around the world, or building Project Wellspring, Michelle's mission remains the same:
To help people discover the Master Designer's purpose for their lives.
Photo by Kaylyn Beeson