For the last 38 years, Lee McKeever has been the sport horse manager and closest advisor to six-time Olympian McLain Ward. McKeever has been an indispensable member of Ward’s team and has played a key role in Ward’s competing in 20 World Cup Finals and 14 major championships, bringing home 13 medals.

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, McKeever started his love affair with horses when he was 12 years old. While still a boy, McKeever left school and found a job as a groom. Shortly thereafter, someone told him that a friend, Jimmy Doyle, could get him a job in America. McKeever came to the U.S. in 1988 and took a job working for Barney Ward at Castle Hill Farm in Brewster, New York.

McKeever oversees every aspect of caring for more than 30 horses at a time and has played a key role in the success of such superstars as Sapphire, Rothchild, Antares F, HH Azur, Contagious, HH Carlos Z, Clinta, High Star Hero, First Lady, and many more. With McKeever at his side, Ward has won 13 medals at the Olympics, Pan American Games and World Equestrian Games, the FEI World Cup Finals in 2017, and many major Grand Prix in the U.S. and around the world.

McKeever is an invaluable source of knowledge not only for Ward and the Castle Hill team, but also for other grooms and horsemen with whom he is more than happy to share his knowledge and expertise. McKeever’s success and importance in the industry is recognized around the world and was formally acknowledged in 2018 when he was honored by the FEI with its Best Groom award.

Ward has undying respect and praise for his longtime partner. “He knows the horses better than anybody,” Ward said. “He knows just how to have their conditioning and their health, and how to prevent and deal with injuries. There’s never been a moment when I doubted that my horses were in anything but the best of care and that they had the best preparation to be ready to compete.”

“This has never been a job for me,” McKeever says. “It’s a way of life.” It was at Castle Hill that McKeever met his wife, Erica, who began working there about the same time he did and who continues to work with him managing all that goes on at Castle Hill. They have two children, a son, Bradlee, and a daughter, Baylee, who has risen through the ranks to compete at the Five Star level while still a Young Rider.

Albany

Fine-boned and light on his feet, Albany was an amazing horse, both for his performance in the ring and his beautiful personality outside the ring. He was a classic-type Thoroughbred who began his career on the racetrack. The sensitive horse, foaled in 1975, proved more talented over fences than he was on the track, and he became a true star in the show jumping ring. After starting his career with Joanne Kovacs and Jimmy Kohn, Albany was purchased for the 1983 season by Debbie Dolan (Sweeney). He was originally shown on the Grand Prix level by her trainer, Leslie Burr (Howard), while the 19-year-old Dolan was still showing in the amateur-owner division.

Following a highly successful career with Burr in the saddle, Albany had continued success both nationally and internationally once Dolan moved up to Grand Prix competition. With Burr in the saddle, Albany was named the American Grandprix Association (AGA) Horse of the Year in both 1983 and 1984, and he carried Burr to the AGA Rider of the Year title in 1983. 

In 1984, the pair won the $100,000 American Invitational in Tampa Stadium, and they topped the U.S. Olympic Trials to secure a spot on the Olympic team alongside Joe Fargis and Touch of Class, Conrad Homfeld and Abdullah, and Melanie Smith (Taylor) and Calypso. At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Albany teamed with the others to make history as the first U.S. team ever to win the Olympic show jumping team Gold Medal.

When Burr handed over the reins to Dolan, Albany continued his successful career. Over the next few years, the new combination won the Cleveland Grand Prix in 1986 and the Winter Equestrian Festival Challenge Series in 1988. They also had top-five Grand Prix finishes at the National Horse Show and Valley Forge in 1986; at Old Salem, Cleveland and the American Invitational in 1988; and at Palm Beach and Baltimore in 1989. Internationally, the pair rode on winning Nations Cup teams at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto in 1987 and at Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1988 and won the Ladies Show Jumping Championship at Windsor, England, in 1989.