Meet THE SPIRIT SONG Staff
Starr McAlexander
- Founder, Director, Riding Instructor
- Equine-Assisted Life Skills Coach
- Level II E3A Certified Advanced Practitioner (Personal Development Specialty)
- USEDA Certified Drill Master
Starr McAlexander
Starr McAlexander’s innate love of and intrinsic aptitude for horses began at the young age of 5. As a founder of Spirit Song she is focusing 55 years of personal development and professional skill in horse ownership, training, and management to benefit youth.
Starr recognizes that each child is a blessing, possessing great worth, and is devoted to building self-worth and purpose in her students of all ages. In each learning session, she adjusts riding, groundwork, and training styles to match the needs of each individual to that of the horse. This truly remarkable connection encourages youth to reach for and to achieve their highest, God-given potential.
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Beginning with membership in a local 4-H Horse and Pony Club in Pennsylvania, Starr continued honing her centered riding and jumping skills with many wise trainers, learning diverse riding and training techniques – all having the common theme of producing a well-balanced and safe horse to ride as well as one that is pleasant to be around.
In 1997, Starr founded Two Point Meadows Riding Academy in Murphy, Texas, devoting her time to teaching students affiliated with the U.S. Pony Club. During this time she started working with foster children and other youth who were experiencing some form of life trauma (opportunities looking for a solution), which revealed the opportunity for pairing her horses with youth looking for a friend and searching for purpose and self-worth.
While creating and developing this new path to youth instruction, from 2000 to 2004, she became a horse management judge for the US Pony Club’s Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping regional rallies. She became well versed in the need to maintain students’ levels of confidence in their abilities and promote safe riding practices.
Since 2008, Starr has nurtured a family-oriented riding atmosphere for children and youth at Spirit Song, in which parental involvement is encouraged. She takes pride in each student’s growth and achievement, ensuring that each learning session is focused on developing an individualized and personalized life skill and quality.
Key to the success of her tailored learning program is the debriefing that occurs after each session with the student and the parent(s). Several of Starr’s students have successfully progressed to university equestrian team status. Others continue to support Spirit Song, assisting in student instruction, horse training, and summer camps.
Starr is proud of each of her students and believes that Spirit Song has successfully brightened each student’s self-confidence and personal life purpose. Starr is certified in both Level I and Level II as an Advanced Practitioner with the Equine Experiential Education Association (E3A), having a Specialty in Personal Development and Wellbeing.
Alison Selby
Alison Selby is a lifelong student of the horse. She spent her formative years showing horses in disciplines as diverse as hunters and jumpers to rodeo events.
During her final year toward completion of her degree in Art Education at Northeast Missouri State University, she was accepted into the highly regarded Horsemaster’s program at the Potomac Horse Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. There, she was exposed to Olympic-caliber riders and instruction in dressage and 3-day eventing.
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She continued her horse education at Belmont Park in New York where, for the next 18 years, she was the exercise rider for over 30,000 thoroughbred racehorses, working for such legendary trainers as Woody Stephens, winner of 5 consecutive Belmont Stakes, and H. Allen Jerkens, who was the trainer of not one, but two horses to upset the mighty Secretariat.
During her time in New York, Alison earned a BA in Psychology at New York University. She completed her Master of Science in Social Work at University of Texas at Arlington, with a concentration in Direct Practice and a special interest in adolescents.
Allison is a Path, International Certified Advanced Instructor and is certified in both Level I and Level II as an Advanced Practitioner with the Equine Experiential Education Association (E3A), having a Specialty in Personal Development and Wellbeing.
Alison Selby
- Director of Clinical Services
- Equine-Assisted Life Skills Coach
- Level II E3A Certified Advanced Practitioner (Personal Development Specialty)
- PATH International Certified Advanced Instructor
Charissa Baxter
- Director of Strategic Program Development
- Level I E3A Certified Practitioner
- Equine-Assisted Life Skills Coach
Charissa Baxter
Charissa grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She fell in love with horses as a young girl, and particularly enjoyed showing and competing in Hunter/Jumper classes as a teenager. Before moving to Texas, she spent several years purchasing and training horses of many different breeds and backgrounds. This experience fostered a desire to understand the unique gifts and talents that each horse possesses, along with a deeper appreciation for the complex – yet beautifully simple – relationship between horse and human.
Charissa graduated from Penn State University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. After graduation, she moved to Texas to work at Spirit Song. In August of 2020, she earned her Master of Arts degree in Human Services Counseling: Marriage and Family from Liberty University.
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Charissa is a certified Level 1 Practitioner with the Equine Experiential Education Association (E3A). She oversees and facilitates the Building Blocks coaching programs for youth, adults, and families, and orchestrates the Equine-Assisted Bible Camps. She is a facilitator in the Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Waiver program, and additionally serves as a Co-Director of the Equine Experience for the “3DExperience” offered by The Aspire International Foundation through CORE 7, a Spirit Song ministry partner.
Spirit Song, an answer to prayer! Throughout our daughter’s journey at Spirit Song, her instructors have diligently and prayerfully planted the seeds of character into her life; the fruit of which my husband and I have watched grow to maturity: humility, self-discipline, mental focus, leadership, thoughtfulness, commitment, initiative, and courage. Although she began as a young child with only a simple love of horses and an insatiable desire to ride, she has developed into an accomplished young equestrian prepared for whatever life might bring her way, in the saddle – or out of it! We are grateful to Spirit Song staff and horses for providing our daughter with this life-changing opportunity!