An accident of local geography started Nancy Jones on a career with horses that went from the ground up to national recognition, earning her the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s 2020 Jane Marshall Dillon award.
Jonesie, who runs her business at Logan’s Brook Equine Center on the border of Morris and Somerset counties, is proficient at everything horse; from breeding, foaling and training them for a variety of jobs, to rehabbing mounts and teaching aspiring riders.
How did her involvement begin? As luck would have it, Jonesie’s family lived in a development behind Morris County’s Seaton Hackney stables in Morris Township.
“We used to sneak through the fence and fool around with the school horses,” she recalled about meeting the animals with her friends.
Although she was drawn to horses, she explained, “Lessons weren’t an option for me. My parents didn’t have that wherewithal.”
But Jonesie’s luck continued to direct her path, because Bert Beck, who ran the stable, was an “incredible horseman.”
Not only did he take an interest in kids who hung out at the barn, he was a skilled, old-school professional who made a point of imparting his knowledge to youngsters who wanted to learn the right way of doing things.
Those who were serious about horses learned plenty and developed not only a good work ethic, but also a great understanding of what it took to be successful with the animals.
“He was a top-notch trainer. Everything was correct from the beginning,” recalled Jonesie, and those who have trained with her emphasize that is also the way she operates.
“Everything is pretty much by the book,” said Mona Shaw, who worked with her at Logan’s Brook for many years.
“She’s so fastidious about doing things the right way.”
Jonesie and Whitney Reynolds before a hunter pace.
Logan’s Brook owner Maddie Devine observed, “She teaches horsemanship first and foremost. She just wouldn’t allow you to speed through the process.”
Maddie, who has ridden with Jonesie for about 30 years, says “she’s fantastic with children.”
Even though Bert wasn’t in the fanciest of situations, “He made the best of what he had,” Jonesie said
“He would let us groom and hang out. He had a very high standard. He’d let us take a pony bareback to check the back gate, just so we could sit on a pony. He would sit up in the hayloft and watch us.”
The kids learned a little bit of everything. That included driving Bert’s Clydesdale, Billy, to fixing halters. And of course, horse care was paramount.
“You never brought a horse back from riding with one bit of sweat on it, let me tell you,” Jonesie emphasized.
Bert, who considered the horses his “business partners” was “the original best teacher,” his dedicated student believes, and it set the course for her life.
“It’s all horses, it always has been,” Jonesie explained. “I didn’t decide; it just was.”
As Olympic double gold medalist Joe Fargis noted about his mentor, Mrs. Dillon, “She gave me the best start a person could possibly have. She thought about the horse first, always, and was a good role model for the kids. I couldn’t have been luckier than to have started there.”
Had the award been given during Mr. Beck’s lifetime, he likely would have been a candidate for the honor.
Jonesie did everything she could to be involved with horses, even volunteering to hold mounts for members of the Spring Valley Hounds in New Vernon when the hunt had a picnic and members enjoyed a leisurely lunch..
Because she had been well-trained, people started to let her ride their horses. When Mr. Beck retired, she went over to Hilltop Stable in New Vernon, where Clarence Nagro was in charge, and to Tewksbury Farms in Hunterdon County, where she would polish boots for trainer Carl Bessette.
“I would clean the tack of those fancy show horses that I would just drool over. And then they let me sit on them and exercise them,” she remembered. Bertalan de Nemethy, coach of the U.S. show jumping team, would teach at Tewksbury and offered instruction to Jonesie.
“He taught me to sit the canter. He couldn’t stand seeing me in my two-point. I knew who he was and I was in awe of everybody at that time. But he just saw this kid who wanted to do it, and he really got after me. I’ll never forget it. ”
Jonesie noted, “I feel so fortunate I fell in the laps of top people, and they took care of me. My parents didn’t want me to do horses, but they couldn’t keep me away.”
While grooming for Clarence’s wife, Tania Nagro, Jonesie slipped on the rain-wet ramp of the van and fractured her ankle badly. She underwent surgery, and then the Nagros took her in at Tempe Wick, their home in Mendham
She was 18 years old, working at night at the breeding farm and during the day, at Hilltop.
“Talk about a horsemanship experience. Again, I credit Mr. Beck for giving me that base,” Jonesie said.
She foaled and broke babies, galloped race horses, was an honorary huntsman for Spring Valley, showed and did hunter trials. She would even ride horses in the parking lot at Bunchy Grant’s auction as Clarence watched to see if he wanted to buy them.
Clarence “knew how to get to a horse and make them understand their job,” she commented.
“When he broke a baby, you never had a problem with it for the rest of its life. By watching him and working with him, I learned how to train a horse.”
She often was there when the horses were born and also was on hand when they were put down.
“How many people know horses from day one until the end?” she asked.
A proud moment was when she finished second to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Essex hunter trials on Northern Tim, a handsome fellow she had nursed back from a bowed tendon.
“My little off-the-track thoroughbred just nailed it. I know it doesn’t sound like much to a lot of people, but this little horse, he went right along,” she said proudly.
Jonesie showing Private Screening on the line at Devon. (Photo by Pennington)
She worked with Clarence until he died in 1985 when she was 30, then set up her own business at the Augustinus farm, finally moving in 1990 to Logan’s Brook located in New Vernon with a Basking Ridge address. Some may remember the property from the era when it was Rod MacDougall’s Floradale Farm.
She teaches the way she was trained.
“I will not just put a kid on a horse. They will learn about horse care right from the beginning. I don’t care if they’re five.”
That approach, she said, “attracts a certain kind of folk which I enjoy being around.”
Many of her students came to Logan’s Brook as youngsters, and rose through the ranks with her.
“I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to essentially grow up at Logan’s Brook, and I am happy to say it was some of the best years of my life,” said Lindsey Anuzis, who spent 14 years there.
“I began training with Jonesie on my tenth birthday, and from day one, she taught me not only about impeccable horsemanship, but invaluable life lessons, including, but not limited to, the value of hard work, dedication and patience.
“Jonesie emphasized the care of the horses in her training because without them, we would not be riding. She encouraged her students to learn about all aspects of horse care; feeding, by learning about their horse’s grain and hay, which she grows on the property; basic veterinary care, farm maintenance and managing a business, as well as the fundamentals of riding and horsemanship,” noted Lindsey, now a clinical mental health counselor associate in North Carolina. She hopes eventually to incorporate equine assisted psychotherapy into her practice, a dividend of her early involvement with horses.
Lindsey noted that Jonesie has relationships with excellent trainers and former Olympic team members, giving her students an opportunity when they were ready to ride with such big names as Anne Kursinski, Jeff Cook and Chris Kappler, among others.
That paid off for another former student, Jessica Siuda. When she felt it was time for a move on to bigger things in the show world, Jonesie connected her with Hunterdon Inc., a top show stable, and Jess went on to make a name for herself on the international stage with Unbelievable 5 and Hello Sanctos.
“Jonesie is the one who gave me the connection when I wanted to take my riding to the next level,” said Jess, while noting, “she taught me from day one that the horse comes first; it’s not just about riding.” Like Jonesie’s other students, she learned how to take a bridle apart, clean it the right way and put it back together again, along with braiding, bandaging and all the other details of horse care that are key. Although she is targeting a doctorate in business administration and has put horses to the side at the moment, Jess has never forgotten what Jonesie gave her, “a debt that can never be repaid.”
Jonesie often had her hands full with Northern Tim, but she knew how to work with him.
Many students who got their start with Jonesie went on to make careers with horses.
“They circle back after 20 or 25 years and thank you for giving them a work ethic,” Jonesie commented.
Even so, earning the Dillon trophy “was definitely a surprise,” she said.
“I don’t look for awards. But the fact that people think of me in that way, I feel very honored and humbled by it.”
After so many decades of hard work, does she every think of retiring?
Jonesie seemed a bit mystified by the question.
“Why would I do that?” she asked.
Then she offered a bit of advice:
“Take the time to learn about horses for a lifetime of feeling like you have meaning.”
