McKays call it a career

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This article was published 13/06/2022 (1356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The time has come for Wilf and Karen McKay to hang up their reins and say goodbye to breeding and training horses.

But they are not saying goodbye to the riding community they helped build.

The McKays announced their retirement from decades of building equestrian bloodlines earlier this year, selling the last of their horses and putting their Alexander farm, WKM Stables, up for sale.

They were honoured for their work in the breeding and training of champion horses, as well as their work at the Brandon Light Horse and Pony Society, Inc., at the Wheat City Horse Show on May 28. They received the club’s President’s Trophy for Annual Competition for Outstanding Members as a parting gift.

It has been a bittersweet time for both, they said. They are sad to be letting go of their farm and horses. Both are in their 70s, Wilf said, and are eager to start a new phase in their lives.

They had planned to officially retire once the last of their horses on the farm had sold, which happened faster than the couple expected.

“We were really thinking it would be a little longer, but they went quick,” Karen said. “We never bought and sold, only raised and sold. Now, we are looking for a buyer of the farm and eventually moving to Brandon.”

They still have four horses boarded in Ontario.

Their legacy in the equine world includes their horses and children. Their son, Scott, runs Green Haven Stables in Limehouse, Ont. He had been competing on Thursday at Angelstone Tournaments on WKM Co-Pilot against Ian Miller, Olympic silver medalist and two-time winner of the Showjumping World Cup, and beat him.

Karen said she received the call and she braced herself when there was a silence after he said he wanted to tell her some news.

“I honestly thought it was bad because I could tell he was getting a hold of himself because he was so excited,” she said, laughing. “I think he had some tears as well. There was another time he was down east at a show and he called and he was crying. I was worried, but he said ‘It’s all good, Mom!’”

Once their farm is sold and they head to Brandon, Karen said they are looking for a place not too big, but she still needs room to pursue her other passion: gardening.

Even now, their hard work can be found in many stables around Manitoba and the Westman region. If you see a horse with a WKM in front of their name, they bred it.

Wilf said all he asked of people who bought his horses, besides take good care of them, was to keep the WKM in their registry name. Over time, he said it became a mark of pride and quality for riders to have one of their horses, which Wilf said was humbling to know his passion for became a benchmark in high-performance horses.

The sprawling farm now is empty of horses. The indoor arena sits empty and quiet, with the walls of the upstairs viewing room and lounge still adorned with numerous ribbons their horses have won. The only activity now is in the couple’s home as they go about their more leisurely lives.

Until recently, the massive property had been home to a breeding and training program that produced warmblood hunter-jumper horses, as well as thoroughbred/percheron hybrids. All of them were sold across North America, with many going on to be champion competitors.

One of those is Xenia, a warmblood jumper mare who was named 2018 Canadian Bred Horse of the Year. She is just one of many who brought home provincial and national accolades.

Wilf had always been around horses, starting as a western rider, competing in barrel racing and an active member of the pony club. Karen said she loved to joke she married a cowboy and was looking forward to being a farmer’s wife and raising a family on their own ranch.

Then one day, Scott convinced him to try English riding, and Wilf said that changed his life and future.

Their journey started 57 years ago when they bought the property. At the time, they were raising cattle, growing grain and breeding purebred cows. The farm started its horse-breeding program with quarter horses and crossing thoroughbreds and percherons to produce what Wilf said were more reliable and safer horses for people to ride.

Karen said Wilf has always had an ability to judge a good horse, looking for confirmation, movement and their intelligence. Horses have always been a part of her husband’s life, she added, joking that she just tags along.

In 2000, they started breeding warmbloods, a type of horse that is physically large, strong and built for high performance and endurance. Their foundation stud was a stallion from The Netherlands named Nickelson B, who had a rocky start, Wilf said, but in a few years was producing top-quality horses.

“People weren’t sure about him, but he came from a superior pedigree, and I felt he was the stallion for us,” he said. “The quality goes both ways. We hand-picked the mares for him to breed with and worked to make them good horses.”

He also hand-picked trainers to work the horses. All of them, Wilf said, had just as much to do with the excellent horses as the breeding.

At one point, they had around 200 horses, most of which, save for the stallions, were also part of a pregnant mare’s urine (PMU) program they became involved with in 1985. That involved collecting the urine of mares to extract the hormones to use in pharmaceuticals that helped earn the farm more money.

Over time, they pared down the operation, ending the PMU in 2003 and slowly reducing their herd.

They will be staying in touch with the local horse circuit and the Brandon Light Horse and Pony Society, Inc.

However, it will be for the joy, not for the investment.

“I can enjoy watching these horses jump now and know I’m not paying for any of them,” he joked.

“This has been our life, though, and it always will be. We are not walking away from it anytime soon.”

» kmckinley@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @karenleighmcki1