ABOUT US

The original McQuay Stables was a state-of-the-art Reining and Hunter & Jumper training, sales and breeding facility located in Tioga, Texas, the heart of North Texas horse country. The facility consisted of three properties that housed approximately two-hundred horses, with an average of eighty in training at all times. The program was divided into three divisions: Breeding, Reining, and Hunters & Jumpers. Each division had their own dedicated staff, which in addition to the office staff, averaged a total of twenty-five employees. The couple is now located on their boutique farm in Pilot Point, Texas.

Legendary to the industry, NRHA Hall of Famers Tim and Colleen McQuay, have played an integral part in shaping the Reining horse industry into what we see it as today, as well as making measurable contributions to the Hunter & Jumper world.

Three Million Dollar rider Tim was the NRHA leading money earner for an incredible eleven years. Having won every major NRHA event at least once, Tim is a two-time World Equestrian Games Gold medalist, two-time NRHA L4 Open Futurity Champion, five-time Quarter Horse Congress Futurity Champion, two-time AQHA World Champion, and multiple NRHA World and Reserve World Champion. Tim has also played a major role in the development of many of today’s successful trainers and Non-Professionals. Serving as an NRHA Judge and committee member over the years, Tim continues to breed and raise top prospects. Tim is happy to provide consulting services for all parts of the industry, including breeding, show management, training, and coaching. He continues to ride and coach on a daily basis.

After a successful career riding Hunters and Jumpers, Colleen continues working with other professionals in developing horses. Still serving on multiple boards and committees with USHJA and USEF, Colleen recently received the Bill Moroney Visionary Award for the USHJA. She was involved with developing the USHJA Green Incentive Program and is a partner in the Texas Super Series Group. Along with her achievments in the Hunter and Jumper industry, Colleen made many contributions through volunteer work in the Reining industry. Along with her team of the NCRHA who managed the NRHA Derby in St. Paul, she helped to create Paid Warm-Ups and Freestyle Reining. In an effort to grow the Reining industry, she was also an integral part of the team that developed the levels that Reining shows under today, including Category 2 Levels, Intermediate Open, and Short Stirrup. She was a founding partner of the National Reining Breeders Classic, helping to create the enrollment incentive process which serves as a foundation for many programs today and increasing Derbies to include older horses. Colleen also played an important role in bringing Reining to the international stage.

Their daughter, Three Million Dollar Rider and also World Equestrian Games Gold Medalist, NRHA Hall of Famer Mandy, is married to NRHA Million Dollar Rider and USEF Rider of the Year, Tom McCutcheon. They have two children, Cade and Carlee who are now professionals in their fields. At a very young age, Cade has already earned over $2 Million with prestigious titles such as NRHA Futurity Champion, Run For A Million Co-Champion, World Equestrian Games Gold and Bronze Medalist. Carlee finished her Junior career winning both the USEF Medal and the Maclay Medal, also Reserve Champion in the USET Talent Search and third in the Washington International Medal. In addition to her Equitation accomplishments, she has earned Gold and Bronze Medals in Young Riders Show Jumping competition.

McQuay Stables in Tioga is the final resting place of both renowned Hall of Fame Stallion Sire Colonels Smoking Gun (Gunner), and legendary Hall of Fame Sire, Hollywood Dun It, both vital parts of McQuay history.

 

OUR HISTORY

Tim and Colleen on their wedding day, 1973

Tim and Colleen McQuay were married in 1973 and established McQuay Stables. Having grown up in different disciplines (Colleen in the Hunters and Jumpers and Tim in the Western and Rodeo world), their business began as a multipurpose training and teaching facility.

Born into a horse-loving family, Colleen was raised in Plymouth, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis / St. Paul. The oldest of five daughters, Colleen began riding and showing horses at an early age under the guidance of her parents, Norm and Rita VanSloun. She quickly developed a love for jumping, especially fostered by her mother Rita's love for that discipline. Norm, a Navy veteran and Polo player, was in the newspaper and printing business, and Rita was a contributing writer to the Star Tribune, as well as the editor of the Minnesota Hunter and Jumper Magazine. The couple was part of the founding group for the Minnesota Hunter and Jumper Association, as well as the Minnesota Fall Charity Horse Show.

Colleen, age 15, riding Surpass in the Junior Jumpers at St. John's Horse Show

Originally a car salesman, Tim's father John McQuay had a horse shipping company. His mother, Joyce, was a beautician. Fostered by grandfather Dill McQuay's love for horses, Tim spent his summers riding and learning many pieces of the horse business starting as a young boy in Northern Minnesota. Also during his youth years, Tim spent a great deal of time showing with Harry and Sue Hetletvedt in Bloomington, Minnesota learning more about training and showing, as well as shoeing horses. He also spent time going to rodeos, roping and was especially focusing on steer wrestling. Tim's grandfather Dill, Harry Hetletvedt, and other mentors helped to develop his sixth sense about a horse's mind, which is still part of Tim's training philosophy today, which he continues to pass on as a mentor to others. 

After opening the doors of McQuay Stables in Maple Plain, Minnesota on their newly purchased farm in 1976, Tim and Colleen began their training and showing business, working for clients in various disciplines throughout the years. To help get things started, Tim shod horses during many of the days while Colleen managed and trained at the farm until Tim came home to ride as well. Their clientele grew and they were soon able to focus more of their time on training and showing, bringing in and mentoring various apprentices over the years.

During the same year, the couple was blessed with daughter Mandy, who quickly figured out that her favorite place in the world was on the back of a horse (or pony). Spending the vast majority of her time in the saddle, Mandy began showing in walk-trot classes when she was a mere three years old, and soon took off over jumps aboard pony Hunters. 

Milestones were achieved two years later, when Tim earned his first NRHA Futurity paycheck  in 1978 aboard Band of Glo. Placing in the top ten at the event became a regular occurrence for him from that point forward. During that time, Tim and Colleen showed extensively at AQHA events, as well as USEF shows. In the mid-80's, they were able to specialize in strictly Reiners and Hunters and Jumpers.

Tim and Hollywood Dun It at the NRHA Derby

Adding to career opportunities, Tim was given the chance to train and show Hollywood Dun It to a Reserve NRHA Futurity win in 1986. Believing in the horse, he and Colleen purchased "Dun It" from Cliff and Gwendy Steif in 1987. Tim and Hollywood Dun It went on to be Champions at the NRHA Derby and Super Stakes, and the Reining community was anxious for Hollywood Dun It to begin his breeding career. Since warmer weather and easier access to breeding clientele were necessary for Hollywood Dun It as well as the horses in general, the family moved their business to Tioga, Texas in 1989.

Tim and Colleen at McQuay Stables in Tioga, Texas

McQuay Stables' breeding program has proven to be a staple in the Reining horse industry, also impacting the industry with their sire Gunner.

Since Hunter and Jumper shows and clients were available throughout the country, Colleen's Hunter and Jumper business also continued to thrive in Texas. The family quickly came to appreciate close proximity to events, veterinarians, and clients, loving their new location. The thriving business provided for over 200 horses and offered three divisions- Reining, Hunters and Jumpers, and Breeding.

2018 brought a downsize for Tim and Colleen’s business to make time for family in their near retirement years. After their dispersal and farm sale, McQuay Stables continues to operate on a smaller scale out of their boutique farm in Pilot Point, Texas, with Colleen wintering in Wellington, Florida working with the World Equestrian Federation events. Visitors are always welcomed at the farm in Friendship Road. Please contact Tim to schedule a visit!