Allyson Jeffery has spent 13 years working on improving The Horse Park of New Jersey as a member of its board of trustees, but now she’s moving on from her role as president a few months before her term ends in October.
Allyson Jeffery dedicated herself to improving the Horse Park of New Jersey. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“It’s been a focus, almost to the point of obsession,” she explained about her commitment, which lasered in on improving the rings at the park in Upper Freehold Township.
“I really had initiatives I wanted to see through. I feel like we’ve accomplished so much–I don’t have as many initiatives anymore,” she pointed out.
At the same time, she added, “it’s definitely bittersweet. I enjoyed very much seeing goals come to fruition.”
The park’s footing has been a key issue over the last few years, and for Allyson it was Job One and the target of fundraising. The Grand Prix ring got new footing in 2018, after foundation and drainage issues were addressed. Improved maintenance has benefited the other rings, which are stone dust and sand. New equipment has enabled staff to keep them groomed effectively, which has “definitely turned those rings around” in her view.
“They’re really proud of the rings we’re putting out right now,” she said, citing the efforts of Aaron Thompson from the Carolina Horse Park in developing the maintenance protocol. She also mentioned Janet and Craig Geiler, who put the footing in the Grand Prix ring, which is still a work in progress to bring it to its optimum. That ring will get another evaluation in the fall from Aaron, who can determine what else needs to be done.
“The rings have become the focus of the board; making those improvements and perpetuating them, making sure it’s a top priority having the rings maintained at the beginning and the end of the season and of course throughout the season being monitored,” she said.
Other achievements during her term include the addition of a Winner’s Circle to honor Gwen Stableford, who gave an endowment to the Horse Park. A plus also involved enlarging the paddock area between the East and West rings, while improvements are under way for the stabling.
The Millstone resident feels relationships with managers of shows held at the park have improved, and the board has become more interactive with the committee that puts on the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event, the park’s crown jewel. Having several members of the board on the Jersey Fresh committee has also been helpful, she said.
“In the last couple of years, we have really shown that this event can persevere through all conditions. There’s a lot of dedication there. That cross-country course has held up so beautifully,” she said, saluting the park’s second president, Dr. Stephen Dey, who took the initiative for a feature she called “the hallmark of the park.”
Allyson is proud of the effort between herself and Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association President Heidi Lemack “to build more of a community around the Horse Park. We felt the park should be a hub of equine activity, rather than the division between disciplines. Heidi and her husband, Jason, have been a source of support for educational events such as the (dressage) Fix- a-Test, with proceeds going to the Footing Fund.”
Heidi was one of the proponents for organizing a clinic at the park by noted dressage judge Lilo Fore. She and her husband own and run Rhythm and Blues stables in Allentown “and are always working towards education for the horse and rider. Together, we hope we made an impact in our equine community.”
“Allyson is fantastic. She showed up for all of our competitions, helping with the footing and checking in with the show manager to see how the shows can work better for us over the last few years,” said Heidi. She has given class lists to Allyson, who tells her when the breaks should be so the footing can be groomed at an optimum for all the exhibitors.
“She has moved the park into another gear. I think she has set into motion a very good machine to carry on for the next president and the board. The morale of the people who work there is tremendous, it looks like they feel more in control, like they know what they’re supposed to be doing and they want to do a great job.”
Members of ESDCTA , Pony Club and the Horse Park all get a discount for events or educational activities. “We want to be seen as a community rather than separate entities, even though we may belong to different organizations. We should be able to pool our resources and work together,” said Heidi.
At tbe he moment, Allyson isn’t sure if she’s also stepping away from the board itself. Explaining her resignation, she said, “The demands of the board are great and I’ve put so much into this and put everything else on hold for the last few years, so it’s just time for me to start paying attention to other areas.”
Allyson is expecting a grandchild in October. “I’m going to be helping out there and don’t know if I can give as much time as I do now at the park,” she noted, saying her daughter, Lauren Jeffery, will be going back to work at the Mercer County Equestrian Center after the birth and Allyson will be involved with child care.
Asked for his opinion of what Allyson has done during her time with the park, board vice president Adam Furlong said, “I don’t even know where to start. The well-being of the park has always been a core focus and passion of hers. The amount of personal time she has put in to the park, from meeting with vendors to literally pulling weeds, is the epitome of what you want to see in leadership of the park.”
Adam Furlong, interim president of the Horse Park of New Jersey. (Photo©by Nancy Jaffer)
An active board has gotten a lot done and “It’s been quite positive all around,” said Adam, noting operational changes to improve accounting protocols and record-keeping “will pay dividends in financial terms down the road, as well as operationally making the park well-suited to moving forward and growing as much as possible.”
Adam is serving as the interim president, but he’s not running for the job permanently. He explained that working at B.W. Furlong and Associates in Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County, means he is based too far from the park to be there as often as Allyson was because she is living nearby.
But he continues making his own contribution.
“I think I can support and supply some of the operational context for support, the back room kind of thing,” he said.
“Allyson has been a phenomenal face and voice of the park. We have a very diverse board that represents different aspects of the community and equestrian sport as a whole. We have barrel racers, dressage people, trail riders, drivers; the full gamut of equine activity and people who are not pro-actively involved with horses, which is also beneficial for us to think about outreach outside our standard scope of horse people.”
As he pointed out, “They bring a lot of value to us in terms of terms of coming up with creative ways for outreach to the community. We have a really engaged board,” which also includes members appointed through the state Departments of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.
“Everyone who does it volunteers their personal time, and a lot of people are volunteering their wallets as well,” he said. “It’s a labor of love for sure. The more people we have engaged in the park, the better. The park is for the equestrian community of the state and certainly for the equestrian community of the surrounding counties.
“If people want it to be better, we’re open to those ideas and open to people wanting to jump in and participate.”
