spotlight || leisure Photo provided by Heidi Meuwissen
Tim McQuay, 59 Reining:
A Western riding competition in which a rider guides his horse through a precise pattern of circles, spins and stops. You can’t talk reining without talking about legend Tim McQuay. He has been a trailblazer in the industry for decades. After 37 years in the Twin Cities, he headed south to Tioga, Texas, where he and wife Colleen now run McQuay Stables, a training and breeding facility that combines their passions: reining and hunter/jumper. AL: Describe reining in 50 words or less. TM: It’s kind of like figure skating on a horse. We do sliding stops; spins; fast, large circles; small, slow circles; figure eights; flying lead changes. AL: Tell us about your philosophy to put the horse first. TM: At our place, we ride and train about 70 horses a day. We work together on everything. Colleen and I feel that a sound horse is a happy horse. I personally have trouble training a horse that I feel is sore. If a horse feels sore, the first thing I do is ask my vet to look at him. If he thinks [the horse is OK], I keep training.
Barrel racing:
a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to complete a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time
Minnesota native Heidi Meuwissen got her start in barrel racing at the tender age of 12. She has numerous victories on the high-school rodeo circuit to her name as well as pro accolades, including a highly coveted round win at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. She splits her time between her home state and Texas as a sales rep for Cokato-based clothing company Cowgirl Tuff Co. AL: How did you get started in barrel racing? HM: I started riding on my grandparents’ farm. When they passed away when I was 9, the horses came to our house in Excelsior. My dad’s rule was that if it didn’t take gas, it wasn’t going to be at our house. My mom convinced him to let us have them as long as my brother and I took care of the chores. My parents started taking me to Minnetonka Horsemen when I was 10. That’s where I realized I wanted to focus on barrel racing. I started taking lessons and eventually got into the high-school rodeo circuit. AL: Tell us about George, the horse you learned to run barrels on. HM: George was a once-in-a-lifetime horse. He was extremely automatic and a great teacher. AL: What’s your proudest accomplishment? HM: My horse Bull, a former racehorse who ran at Canterbury, was my green light into pro rodeos. Winning go-rounds on him at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo in 2007 was a huge accomplishment. Two years later, I ended up winning enough money to get into Houston, but Bull was hurt. A great mentor of mine, Maren Luedemann — the person who helped me go pro in 2002 — lent me her horse, and I ended up winning a round on him.
avid equestrians LEFT Tim McQuay rides Smart And Shiney, a 2003 stallion owned by Lyle Lovett and standing at
McQuay stables. RIGHT Heidi Meuwissen races against the clock at the Grand National Rodeo, Horse and Stock Show in 2008. 126 Artful Living
| Summer 2011
Artful-LivingMag.com
TIM MCQUAY PHOTO BY WALTENBERRY
AL: You have some amazing accolades under your belt: first-ever $2-million rider in National Reining Horse Association history; five-time All American Quarter Horse Congress Futurity Champion; four-time Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity Champion; and two-time NRHA Futurity Champion — with the second win at age 56. What’s your most memorable accomplishment? TM: The best thing has been my family — Colleen, [daughter] Mandy, [son-in-law] Tom and my grandchildren, Cade and Carlee. All of the things we have been able to do are sometimes unbelievable to me, from my show record to what our breeding stallions have done and are doing. The accomplishments my family has been able to [achieve] have been great, from Colleen’s championships to what Mandy has done to be the first nonpro to win more than $1 million to [my career].
Heidi Meuwissen, 27