About Tim McQuay

Tim McQuay got started in reining in the 70s and earned his first National Reining Horse Association money in 1978. That landmark event came at the NRHA Futurity when it was still held in Columbus, Ohio. Tim rode Band Of Glo to a 13th place finish, earning a little over eleven hundred dollars.In the years since, McQuay’s wins have gotten larger and his paychecks more lucrative. He became the first-ever $2 Million Dollar rider in National Reining Horse Association history – and was the NRHA’s All Time Leading Money Earner for an incredible 11 years.Tim has been a trailblazer in the industry throughout his career. He has won every major NRHA sanctioned event, including the NRHA Futurity, the National Reining Breeders Classic, the NRHA Derby and the NRHA Superstakes.  In the past 31 years, Tim has earned reining prize money on an astounding 229 different horses! In 2000, he was inducted into the NRHA Hall of Fame. 

In 2001, even after being sidelined mid-year with a life-threatening illness, he was still an NRHA Futurity Finalist on Smart Miss Marker owned by Kanjiro Tokita. In 2002, McQuay tied for the win of the NRHA Derby, finishing as the Reserve Champion of that event on Kid Whiz, owned by Brian Fix.  One month later, at the Bayer/USET CRIO Nation’s Cup in Gladstone, New Jersey, he competed as a member of the Gold Medal winning US Team riding Okie Dun Did It, owned at the time by Monica Hicks.

2003 was a great year for Tim. He won the NRHA Derby Open Championship on RR Star, owned by Richard and Rose Lundin. A few months later he was riding into the winner’s circle again – this time as the American Quarter Horse Association Senior Reining World Champion on the great roan mare, Custom Red Berry, owned by Stone Canyon Ranch.
In 2004, Tim won the USEF Qualifier at the NRBC on Custom Red Berry and was a top ten finisher at the NRHA Futurity.

Literally, everywhere in the world of reining, Tim McQuay has left his mark – he is a five-time All American Quarter Horse Congress Futurity Champion and a four-time Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity Champion. He is also a two-time AQHA World Champion and multiple National Reining Horse Association World and Reserve World Champion.

Tim won a Silver medal at the FEI Masters Reining in Italy in 2005, riding Mister Montana Nic, then won the Reining Masters at the NRHA Futurity that same year.  Also in 2005, he finished in the top five at the NRHA Futurity on Great King Pine, one of his three horses in the finals.

In 2006, Tim traveled to the World Equestrian Games and earned Team Gold and Individual silver medals on Mister Nicadual owned by Jerry Kimmel.In 2007, he won the Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity on Dun It On The QT, also owned by Jerry Kimmel.Tim McQuay has qualified for the NRHA Futurity finals every year but one since 1978 and in 2008, he qualified three horses for the finals.That wasn’t nearly enough – at that same futurity Tim showed that a lifetime of dedication to reining can still result in a coveted NRHA Futurity Championship when he, at the age of 56, rode Carol Rose’s Shining And Sassy to win the $150,000 first place check and an amazing $187,300 in total earnings from the event.That boosted his career earnings over the $2.5 million mark! With a worldwide clientele, McQuay travels stateside and abroad where he presents reining clinics and consults with horse owners and professionals.  His training program for professionals and Non Pros is one for the ages – and one that many others admittedly have imitated.

In June of 2009, Tim's knowledge and experience were shared with the world through the release of his instructional video series, The Art Of Reining. 2010 brought international success to McQuay Stables once again, as Tim and Hollywoodstinseltown earned team Gold medals at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky.

Major milestones were achieved in 2012 when Tim rode David Silva's Gunners Tinseltown to the NRHA Open Futurity Reserve Championship, earning over $143,000 to position himself in the $3 Million Rider category and launching long-time client David Silva into the position of NRHA's newest Million Dollar Owner. Earlier in the year, Tim was the Ariat Tulsa Reining Classic Developing Horse Futurity Champion aboard Nuthin But Hollywood, one of two colts in Hollywoodstinseltown's first foal crop.

Tim was pleased to have the opportunity to show Yellow Jersey at the Rolex Kentucky Reining Cup in April of 2013 and immediately noticed the great "feel," good mind, and big heart the horse posessed, earning a nice paycheck with the horse after very little time to prepare the horse. Although Tim achieved other show ring success as well in 2013, leading the first go of the Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity aboard Gunna Sassya and earning Reserve Champion honors in the Cactus Classic Derby on Hollywood Gotta Gun, July's tragic loss of NRHA $5 Million sire Colonels Smoking Gun AKA Gunner certainly left its mark on Tim, McQuay Stables, and the entire Reining industry. While Gunner will never be replaced in the hearts of the McQuays, Tim was pleased to be given the chance to purchase Yellow Jersey late in 2013.

2014 brought the opportunity for Yellow Jersey to be shown at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, and Tim and Colleen decided that their daughter, Mandy McCutcheon, was the rider for the job. After helping earn Mandy a place on Team USA as the first non-professional and first female in history, Yellow Jersey went on to earn a Team Gold and Individual Bronze medal at the games. His incredible mind and athletic ability prevailed yet again throughout the journey, and the McQuays are proud to stand "Jersey" alongside their clients' stallions at McQuay Stables. With significant success already earned in Europe by the few Yellow Jersey offspring of age, Tim and Colleen look forward to the stallion's bright future.

Thus far in 2015, Tim has been an NRBC Open Finalist aboard Chex From a Star and Dontmesswithmyguns, both owned by Silva Reining Horses. In addition to training and showing Reining horses, Tim spends time managing daily operations at McQuay Stables, instructing assistant trainers, and overseeing the breeding operation for the six stallions and an average of 50-60 annual foals at McQuay Stables. Raising quality prospects to continually boost the Reining industry is one of his major focuses, and McQuay Stables has produced countless winners, many of which were sold through the annual Legacy Reining Breeders Sale.

The McQuay philosophy puts the horse first – and is a total program to attain a long-term career for a reining horse.

You can’t talk about Tim McQuay without talking about McQuay Stables – the operation that has been making a difference in the industry in breeding and training for over three decades. Click Here to view the facility.

Tim and his wife Colleen have literally helped shape the performance horse environment and the great horses they have been involved with make a who’s who in the equine world. As integral parts of the evolution of the NRHA, founders of the National Reining Breeders Classic, and through projects such as the Tulsa Reining Classic and multiple NRHA committees over the years, Tim has certainly left his mark on the industry.