Wilson McBride was born July 26, 1918, on a farm in Coryell County. He was the fifth of six children born to D.J. and Sarah McBride. His dad was a cotton farmer; therefore, Wilson and his siblings worked in the fields beginning at very early ages. The only horses on the farm were workhorses and were not to be ridden. However, Wilson would sneak off and ride them bareback every chance he got. Thus, began his love of horses and riding.
When he became old enough to convince his dad that he wanted to rope, he bought a young, green, gray mare for $40 named Peanuts. His dad allowed him to build an arena on their place, and he began training Peanuts for roping. He entered his first rodeo at The Grove. His mama raised turkeys to sell, and she gave him $3.00 from her turkey money to pay his entry fees. He didn’t win, but he was hooked. He practiced as often as possible when not working on the farm.
At an early age, Wilson left home and got a job on a ranch in Uvalde. It was hard work, but he was finally getting to do what he loved. Riding, roping, and working cattle for a living sure beat planting and picking cotton. The rancher allowed him and another cowhand to go to the Utopia rodeo on July 4th. Wilson won the roping. He went to Halletsville and bought his first good roping saddle for $48.
Wilson joined the Rodeo Cowboy Association in 1951 in Killeen, Texas. Although he was never a World Champion, he was a serious contender in the calf-roping event, in which he participated in Texas and throughout the United States. One of his proudest wins was at Levelland, Texas, when he beat Toots Mansfield for first place. He roped against all of the greats of that era, such as Toots, Don McGlaughlin, Troy Fort, and Ray Wharton just to name a few. During his RCA days he competed at many of Tommy Steiner rodeos and was regularly employed by Tommy at these rodeos as a gate man. He considered Tommy and Beverly to be dear friends.
Wilson had a natural ability for training horses, perhaps because of his patience with and love for them. He takes much pride in his training of many outstanding roping and barrel horses. He helped his wife then, Billie McBride, train her great barrel mare, Zombie, who won the world GRA barrel race championship four consecutive years, 1955-1958 and was runner-up in 1954 and 1959.
One of Wilson’s most precious possessions is his PRCA Gold Card #524, which he received in 1968. Wilson has one daughter and son-in-law, three grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren who he takes great delight in.
