Kay McFarland
20 NOTABLES
Now in retirement, McFarland is able to spend more hours gardening, an interest that her mother helped her develop as a young child.
‘Horse crazy’
Family influences
The McFarland family was always active with some event or new project. McFarland’s father, Kenneth, was the superintendent of Topeka Public Schools and later became a nationally known speaker. Because McFarland’s father traveled often for his speaking engagements, she spent much of her time with her mother Margaret and grew to share many interests, such as gardening. “I think you get a lot of what you are from your parents,” says McFarland, who recalls her mother’s “gorgeous flower gardens” and works to create her own. Recently, she converted an in-ground pool at her home into a water garden, complete with a fountain.
It was during McFarland’s junior high school years when she developed a new interest that would influence her parents and the rest of her life. On a vacation to Estes Park, Colorado, McFarland took her first horse ride. From that moment, McFarland recalls becoming “horse crazy.” She came back so excited from the ride that she convinced her parents to join her the following day and eventually hooked the entire family on horses. Back home, McFarland saved her allowance to buy a halter and other horse supplies. Next came a horse she kept at a Highland Park stable, then came horses for everyone in the family—her parents, herself and her brother. At that point, in 1948, McFarland’s father bought property on SW 10th Street to keep the animals. By 1952, the family had built a home on the land and moved in to have the horses as their only neighbors. With horses and a large riding area just outside her back door, McFarland became an expert rider and competed in shows throughout Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. Her big break came in 1957 in the form of a beautiful black stallion, a Tennessee walking horse named Midnight Secret. Repeat world champions in the amateur circuit, she and Midnight Secret became one of the top winning teams of their time. As McFarland gathered equestrian accolades, she and her family also “got into dogs,” specifically Irish wolfhounds. McFarland began showing them in competitions but eventually quit because, like other large purebreds, her wolfhounds did not live long. McFarland recalls being heartbroken each time she lost one of these large, gentle dogs.