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64 JA N UA R Y/ F E B R UA R Y 2 017 U N TAC K E D With a life so full of milestones and memories, a house almost isn't enough. Melanie Smith Taylor relegated a few of them to the garage. unearthed thanks to a metal detector). Wildwood's grand main brick barn was built at the height of the Great Depression, between 1932-1933, featur- ing stalls so big it was reported to be the only place the Budweiser Clydesdales would stop on their journeys between St. Louis and New Orleans. Lee's parents, Audrey and William Taylor, were married 65 years. ey first met at the Devon Horse Show (Pa.) and settled in Tennessee in the 1930s, and they turned Wildwood into "a mecca for saddle horses," Melanie says, with the help of famous gaited horse trainer Gar- land Bradshaw. e 1940s and '50s saw plenty of foxhunting with the nearby Oak Grove Hunt, which led to the establishment of It's a pleasant view from Melanie Smith Taylor's living room. the Germantown Horse Show in 1947, and steeplechasing across Wildwood's beautiful rolling pastures. In 1968, the Taylors dispersed all the saddle horses and turned their focus to oroughbreds. And soon, thanks to Lee's polo prowess, the farm had several top-quality polo fields, and the family even stepped in to host the U.S. Open of Polo one year when problems arose with its usual set- ting in Oak Brook, Ill. Melanie and Lee had been mar- ried for 16 years when he succumbed to a brain tumor in December of 2005, but she forged ahead with their shared dream to establish a horsemanship training program, TaylorMade Horse- manship, and she also helped create the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association's Emerging Athletes Program. In addi- tion, at the behest of her old friend and mentor Morris, Melanie took on the role of U.S. Equestrian Federation Devel- oping Rider Tour chef d'equipe, earn- ing the Chronicle's 2007 Show Jumping Horseman of the Year title. Today Melanie continues an impres- sive travel schedule for clinics and televi- sion commentaries, but she's also devoting more of her time and energy to steward- ship of Wildwood. While her plans for the farm haven't been finalized yet, she's exploring several avenues to secure it from any further development. "We're really trying to preserve not just the land, but the trees and the plants and the wildlife," she says. "e things that are just getting lost these days." HORSE & HOME

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