BARN ENVY

from Horse & Style Magazine Winter 2019/2020

by Horse & Style Magazine

CAN YOU STAND IT?

by Taryn Young photos courtesy of Our Day Farm

OUR DAY FARM

This page: Our Day Farm North

Elgin, Illinois Wellington, Florida H O M E T O G E N E R AT I O N S O F O N E O F A M E R I C A’ S M O S T W E L L - K N OW N EQUESTRIAN FAMILIES

Our Day Farm South

Within the hunterjumper world, most are certain to be familiar with the Jayne family and Our Day Farm, their multi-generational family business. With over 30 years of success in developing international riders, breeding, and horse sales, the Jayne family’s equestrian roots run deep.

Founded in 1980 by Alex and Linda Jayne, the operation has grown into a family enterprise, with all three of their nowadult children working as professional riders and trainers under the brand. With farms located in Elgin, Illinois and winter equestrian hot-spot Wellington, Florida, the Jayne family and their clients have year-round access to the highest levels of “AA” rated competition in comfortable environments for both horse and rider.

Although the success of Our Day Farm is widely known, the story of how the farm got its start has largely been left untold. It’s a story of family ties, American history and love for the horse; and Horse & Style was eager to interview the Jayne family to learn more.

FRANK JAYNE In the mid-1930s, as the United States was rebounding from the Great Depression and just before the outbreak of World War II, with horses still a major mode of transportation, Alex’s father Frank Jayne saw an opportunity. Frank was a jack of all trades when it came to horses, and so his equestrian ventures began. Frank owned and operated multiple livery stables, where travelers could keep their horse(s) and wagon or carriage for the night while making the journey through the city of Chicago.

Soon Frank began bringing herds of horses from the “Wild West” to Chicago via train. When the horses would arrive in Chicago, he’d unload them from the train, set them loose, and herd them from the city to his suburban farm located in Barrington, Illinois. There, he would break and train the horses to sell locally at market. It was then that Frank decided to purchase a farm in Elgin, IL for agricultural purposes.

In the 1940s, Frank started running rodeos around Chicago. In the 50s and 60s, he emerged on the horse racing scene and soon Frank Jayne

rose to become the lead trainer at Arlington Park. Later in life, Frank established a polo club on the Elgin, IL property, which was once the agricultural farm and now stands as Our Day Farm’s North location.

ALEX JAYNE Alex Jayne and his two brothers grew up at the polo club Frank founded. They worked on the farm, feeding and turning the horses out to pasture. After school, Alex would bring in the horses and ride his ponies everywhere; to school, around the farm and all over the neighboring properties. He soon became involved in 4-H, fox hunting, eventing and horse showing. Later, as a teenager, Alex joined Pony Club and it was there he met his future wife Linda.

Alex started training students at only 13 years of age. He graduated high school at 16 and then quickly took out a loan and bought his portion (15 acres) of the farm. When Alex married Linda, he decided to focus exclusively on show jumping, where he knew he could make a better living to support his family. Alex’s career highlights include Individual and Team Gold Medals in the 1987 Olympic Festival. He was long-listed for the Pan American Games in 1980 for Show Jumping, all while training and producing rising stars Chris Kappler, Thomas Cerra and Steve Schaefer.

THE NEXT GENERATION Like Frank and Alex, the three children – Maggie, Charlie and Haylie – fell in love with horses at a young age. Alex began breeding elite ponies, and in 1988 the Jayne family started what has become a long-standing tradition of spending their winters showing in Wellington, Florida. Alex purchased their Wellington farm in 1999, and soon both his farm and training program filled with clients’ – and his children’s – horses. Our Day Farm was quickly gaining notoriety.

Maggie, Charlie and Haylie each went on to have illustrious junior careers, all earning Champion or Reserve Champion at major equitation finals. As professionals, all three have won many Grand Prix classes and National Championships and now run the training, riding and sales side of the business. A favorite family highlight came when Charlie was selected as the traveling alternate for the London Olympics in 2012, with now-famous mount Chill R Z. As Alex has stepped away from training, his

Above (L–R): Linda, Alex, Gloria, and Frank Sr. at an eventing championship in Kentucky, photo courtesy of Our Day Farm; This photo (L–R): Charlie, Haylie and Maggie, photo © Elizabeth Lang

This page: Our Day Farm South

tradition of developing Grand Prix riders has been carried on by his children. Our Day Farm clients regularly step into the Grand Prix arena and win Junior and Amateur classes all over the country.

O U R DAY FA R M NORTH & SOUTH Our Day Farm delivers the gold standard when it comes to its staff and facilities. The team has a full-time staff of 12 grooms, each of whom is individually focused on only three to four horses. The staff travels with the Jayne family during their winter and summer transitions, and all staff live on the grounds, maintaining 24 hours of horse supervision each day. Many of their grooms are seen as part of the family, having been employed by them for over ten years.

Surrounded by forest preserve, Our Day Farm’s North location in Elgin, IL offers luxurious amenities and is comprised of three barns, for a total of 50 stalls. The barns, situated amongst a picturesque backdrop of rolling hills, crisp white fencing with hunter green accents, and mature trees, have a true old-world equestrian feel. The property is just 40 minutes from Chicago O’Hare Airport and 15 minutes from numerous “A” and “AA” shows hosted at Lamplight Equestrian Center.

This farm is considered home base, and with its close proximity to horse transportation and plenty of staff, no horse show in the world is out of reach! Sixteen spacious, mowed grass paddocks; three miles of forest preserve trails; an indoor arena; and a summer outdoor kitchen, where lunch is served each day; make this farm the stuff of dreams. Other amenities include a Grand Prix field, equine treadmill and a large watered outdoor ring. Perfectly positioned in Wellington’s horse country, Our Day Farm South stands directly adjacent to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), providing all clients and horses easy access to each of the pre-circuit, Winter Equestrian Festival, and post-circuit shows. The short five-minute walk to the show grounds allows horses to compete and still be pampered at home preand post-class. Similar to the North location, all amenities are offered, including an equine treadmill, a watered outdoor ring with allweather footing, a state-of-the-art equine ice-spa and grass paddocks for grazing.

Our Day Farm is truly a labor of love built by generations of a family who have dedicated their lives to horses and the sport. For more information regarding Our Day Farm’s training programs or sale horses, please contact ourday@aol.com or visit ourdayfarm.com.