By Kathy Gresey
"I knew I wanted to be with horses," said McCrae. "But beyond that? The expenses..."
McCrae grew up in inner city Chicago, not the ideal place for a little girl wanting to pursue a career in horses. She was determined to make her dream a reality, however, and today she owns one of the few French Classical Dressage facilities in the area: McCrae Farm, located right in Grayslake.
"If you want something bad enough the universe will arrange it for you," she said. "You're in this life. Why not do something of quality? Why not take it to the limit?"
McCrae certainly has taken it to the limit. McCrae Farm includes 17 boarded horses, an Olympic size outdoor arena and a regulation size 20 X 40-meter indoor arena with mirrors and sound system. She currently instructs 20 riders, employs two stable hands and one assistant trainer.
McCrae earned her Riding Master's degree from Meredith Manor in Waverly, WV in 1977 and was her class valedictorian.
She said she chose to pursue the dressage method of training after meeting Dominique Barbier, a classical dressage master, and then working with him in Idaho.
The word dressage is synonymous with training, and the French discipline approaches dressage by establishing harmony between rider and horse with lightness of touch in mind.
McCrae said it is a method of training for serious riders, attracting purists with high ideals that want to work hard. "The nice thing about dressage is that there's really no money in competition," she said. "It takes a long time to train a horse up to the high levels. Even if you have a good horse, you can't go (into competition) and wing it."
McCrae takes the method of training to the next level by hosting intense, three-day clinics for her riders four times a year with her old instructor Barbier. She said the clinics are incredible.
"You feel this common love for the horses and yo usee the breakthroughs that people make," she said. "That's what it's really all about."
The farm sees tough times as well. Since being established in 1997, four horses have passed away at McCrae Farm. McCrae said it is hard to lose a horse.
"They're like people. You really know them," she said. "The reality of life is that there is death."
Of course, new horses also arrive at the farm. McCrae said some of the most exciting times she has had in her profession involve waiting for a horse shipment. She likens the event to ordering a Christmas present. She said when a horse arrives it's like heaven.
McCrae's love for animals goes beyond horses. The farm is also home to 13 hens, seven cats, one dog and a parrot.
"Her whole heart and soul is into animals," said McCrae's husband, Jeff. "She's a very special lady."
Jeff added tha this wife is an incredibly hard work.
"She's constant reinvesting in the facility to make it better," he said. "It's hard for her to leave the farm."
McCare said working with animals doesn't lose its magic. She just looks at every experience differently.
"If you look at everything in life and approach it with some newness," she said, "it stays fresh forever."