Mary Gaylord McClean


Mary Gaylord McClean is an American horse breeder, horse owner and exhibitor, businesswoman and philanthropist. McClean owns and shows American Saddlebred horses and Hackney ponies, on which she has won multiple Championships. Many of her philanthropic ventures are horse-related.

Life

McClean was born Mary Gaylord in 1950/1951. She has a sister, Louise G. Bennett, and had a brother, Edward L. Gaylord, who died in 2003.
She is married to Jeff McClean. She has a degree in art history from Boston University. She is chief executive officer and president of Contemporary Signed Books and executive officer of Oklahoma Publishing Company. She lives in Simpsonville, Kentucky.

Horses and equine philanthropy

McClean is highly involved in the American Saddlebred show horse industry; she and her husband own Golden Creek Farm, where they breed, train and sell horses. At the age of 10 she began taking lessons from Helen Crabtree of Simpsonville, Kentucky, and continued at the Crabtree barn until the age of 16. She received the Lurline Roth Sportsmanship Award in 1990.
She competed in the 1999 World's Championship Horse Show at the Kentucky State Fair on the stallion Top Spool and won the Amateur Five-Gaited World's Championship.
In 2002 she received the USA Equestrian Bill Robinson Trophy, the same year she received the Sallie B. Wheeler Distinguished Service Award from the United Professional Horsemens Association for her contributions to the show horse industry.
The next year, 2003, she was inducted into the Kentucky State Fair Hall of Fame.
In 2008 she and the mare According to Lynn placed second in the Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship, making them the reserve winner. She was the American Saddlebred Horse Association's Breeder of the Year in 2009, and the next year was inducted into the American Road Horse and Pony Association Hall of Fame.
In 2010 she and the horse Mr. Center Stage entered the Ladies Three-Gaited World's Championship and won. They went on to repeat the next three years. In 2014 McClean also won the Five-Gaited Ladies Championship on the horse Lynn Williams. She owns the stallion Top of the Mark, who won the Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship in 2016, ridden by Tre Lee. Top of the Mark is a son of Top Spool and brother to According to Lynn..
In 2015 she won country pleasure and Hackney harness pony classes in the World's Championship Horse Show. McClean also contributes to Saddlebred Rescue, a charity that rescues Saddlebreds, Hackneys, and Morgan horses from slaughter and rehomes them. She contributed to the building of the Shelby County, Kentucky, Fairgrounds. In addition she supports the Marion Therapeutic Riding Association. In 2017 ASHA inducted her into their Breeder Hall of Fame, the same year Top of the Mark and Lee repeated their Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship.