Tim McQuay is reining's premier player, a living legend with more than 30 years as a top trainer and showman. He was the first rider ever to reach $2 million in career earnings and lead the list of NRHA All-Time Leading Money Earners for 11 years. He's won every major National Reining Horse Association-sanctioned event, including the NRHA Futurity, the NRHA Derby, NRHA Superstakes, and the National Reining Breeders Classic.

As a testament to his consistency and his talent at developing a horse into a world-beater, the Tioga, Texas, cowboy qualified at least two horse for the NRHA Futurity Finals (considered to be the sport's most important event) every year from 1987 to 2000. In 2005 and 2008, he managed to take three horses into the finals, a feat matched by less than a handful of trainers. McQuay considers his role on the 2006 U.S. reining squad's gold medal win in Aachen, Germany, to be one of his biggest career milestones.

McQuay contributed to a thrilling conclusion to the Aachen event; in the finals, he and Mister Nicadual posted a score of 230 to tie with Canadian Duane Latimer. Under FEI rules, the score forced a ride-off. Unfortunately, Mister Nicadual simply didn't have the gas to put in another stellar performance. An unprompted lead change diminished the pair's score and Latimer grabbed the individual gold for Canada with a 228, just two points ahead of McQuay.

While he knows that on any given day, any top horse is capable of capturing top-honors, that loss had to sting just a little. Count on McQuay to bring a slate of horses to the US Team qualifying competition so that he gets another crack at individual gold at the 2010 Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

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