Page 52 - December 2015

Thomas & Margaret Bradbury’s lifelong influence encompasses land, cattle and Quarter Horse racing by Diane Rice
When Thomas Bradbury married Margaret Bradford and started Bradbury Land and Cattle Company in Byers, Colorado, in 1958, the couple had no idea of the influence they’d extend over the next five and a half decades.
Thomas, the son of Colorado ranchers/farmers Gladys and Tom Bradbury, graduated from Littleton High School, where he also showed steers and clowned at local rodeos. Margaret grew up a horseless city girl in Colorado Springs.
While students at Colorado State University in 1957, Tom and Margaret met at a post-football game party and married the following year at CSU’s chapel. Since then, Margaret has played mostly a support role that helped
form the foundation of their family and multi-faceted business that has provided leadership to an extensive circle of associates.
“[Margaret’s] been the Rock of Gibraltar,” says Yuma, Colorado, rancher George Seward, one of Tom’s horse racing partners and a fellow CSU alumnus. “She’s been very solid and very supportive, and great ladies make great men.”
The man that Margaret has stood beside has gone on to develop real estate, one of the premier Red Angus cattle herds in the nation, and a Quarter Horse racing record that includes winning Ruidoso’s Triple Crown for 3 year olds, plus most every other large futurity
in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and California — including the Champion of Champions.
50 SPEEDHORSE, December 2015