122 SIDELINES JANUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
McLain and his London Olympic partner Antares F win the
$250,000 Alltech Grand Prix at the 2012 Alltech National Horse
Show.
Photo by Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
McLain and his wife Lauren.
Photo by Carrie Wirth
By Kim MacMillan
Most people would have given up and taken the year off;
but McLain Ward isn’t “most people.” In a year flled with many
personal highs and lows, the 37-year-old McLain showed an
inordinate amount of grit and integrity. The three-time Olympian
- Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 - began 2012 by
fracturing his kneecap into 27 little bits when his knee collided
with a jump standard in mid-January. He closed out the year with
the death of his father Barney only one week before winning the
$250,000 Alltech Grand Prix at the Alltech National Horse Show
in November in Lexington, Kentucky.
In the press conference that followed his win at the National
Horse Show, McLain was asked how he was coping with the loss
of his father who was his mentor and business partner in Castle
Hill Farm. “This has been the hardest week of my life,” McLain
said, with tears in his eyes.
“My dad was my world. If I was right with my father, I was
right with the world – in my riding, in my professionalism, in my
interaction with other people. My dad certainly had some faws
in his life; but he sacrifced an unbelievable amount for my family
and me to live our dreams. We shared the same dream. I owe
a career and a life to what he provided for me and taught me to
do. I didn’t know we would win today; but I knew we would go on
and do well; that’s what he taught us to do in life. I think everyone
knows how much I loved my father and how much I am going to
miss him. I loved him very, very much. I rode with a heavy heart
today, but we forge on and do his dream.”
Looking back at 2012, McLain received a bye from the early
Olympic Trials and set his sights on rehab and recovery, hoping
to make it back to the saddle in time to take a spot on the U.S.
squad bound for London. He was riding again by late spring.
He and Grant Road Partners, LLC’s Antares F, his 2011 Pan
American Games partner and his eventual mount in London,
won the $100,000 Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon (an Olympic
observation trial) on June 1, which was cause for celebration.
But, the joy of his return to the show ring was also mediated by
the sorrow of the offcial retirement of his long-time partner and
Olympic gold medal team horse Sapphire. Earlier in May, McLain
also mourned the loss of his friend and U.S. Olympic Equestrian
Team physician Dr. Craig Ferrell who died in a polo accident.
London’s Olympics were not the best for McLain and Antares –
they didn’t medal, but were the second highest placed Americans
there. They arrived home and didn’t waste any time in redeeming
themselves taking home the top prize and a check for $350,000
in the Pfzer Million at the HITS show in Saugerties, New York, in
early September. McLain’s trip to Kentucky for the Alltech National
ended up being worth the effort even though it was an emotional
time.
McLain shared that he wasn’t happy with his riding earlier in
the week at the National Horse Show and thought maybe he was
losing his touch. His wife Lauren gave him some advice, “She told
me to stop the nonsense and just get out there and do what I do
best.” It looks like McLain has done just that.
Tough Year,
Bright Future
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