Farm | Arabian Horses of Golden Ridge Farms

Farm Information

Golden Ridge Farms has been in business for 27 years. We moved to Phoenix, AZ from Lindstrom, MN 10 years ago. We had a great business in MN for 17 years, but we all decided that we had had enough of the COLD weather, and wanted to live where we attended the beautiful Scottsdale Shows. Since our move to Phoenix, our business has tripled and it turns out that this is the best move that we could have ever made. Sales and breeding are a huge part of our business, and the sales have been just phenomenal here. We specialize in showing halter and attend over 20 shows a year.

AHW INTERVIEW
Back At the Ranch with Jay Allen
by Joanne Fox

Jay Allen started out with Arabian halter horses when he volunteered at a farm right across from his high school in Minnesota. The trainer there saw ability in the young man and when one of the first fillies Jay worked with was named junior champion filly at her first show, he was encouraged to work with more of the show horses.

Jay went from volunteering after school, to graduating from high school, to getting a couple of horses in training. He has been a professional trainer since 1984, specializing in the halter division, training, showing, and marketing Arabian horses. After operating his Golden Ridge Farms exclusively in Minnesota on his parents' farm, Jay moved his entire family and operation four years ago to Phoenix, Arizona, where he continues to find success in the Class A, Regional, and National arenas.

Tell me a little bit about your family.: My wife, Diane, and I have two children. Alisha is seven, and Mitchell will be four in July.
How did you meet Diane?: At a horse show . in a motor home. She was doing her homework. She was fifteen, and I was seventeen. It was right after I'd gone out on my own. Her family showed horses, and we were all at the Region 10 Championship in Wisconsin. At that point, I really wasn't showing, but she was. She won her Saddleseat Equitation Championship. We just kind of hit it off and started dating a few months later.
What was it about her that you liked?: Her beautiful blonde hair and her smile! We weren't allowed to go out right away. Her folks wouldn't let her date until she was sixteen, but we talked them into it a month shy of her 16th birthday. We dated off and on until 1989 when we were married.
Where did you propose to Diane?: I popped the question in my '86 Firebird.
Did she say 'yes' right away?: Oh yes! We were engaged for fourteen months. She was going to Saint Oläf College in Minnesota, graduated with her elementary education degree in May, and we were married in July.
You've been in Minnesota your entire life. What made you decide to move to Arizona?.: We were working on my parents' farm in Minnesota ... Jack and Pat Allen. They were getting a little bit closer to retirement age and wanted to live where it was warmer. So they said, "Hey. We'd like to move to Arizona. Would you like to go with us?" It took us about five minutes to decide that one. We sold our house and farm in Minnesota. The good Lord dropped us into the place we are now, and everything has worked out amazingly well.
It's a huge move. Has it paid off?: It amazes me, and I'm very grateful because my clients have great horses. I'm pleased to have found so much success out here in the West. The first Region 2 show we attended, Diane was seven months pregnant with Mitchell, and we took nine horses. We were out in the portable stalls, which at the time were at an angle . they sort of tilted. All we did was get up in the morning, show, work all day to get ready for the next day, and drop into bed at night, just exhausted. It was fun, because the first two classes at the show, I beat some of the best competitors with two Half-Arabians. My gelding SCC Tiburon was Champion Gelding of the show. So I had three Regional Champions for all that hard work, beat some of the top horses in California, and I was just loving it! It made it all worthwhile!
It's SO hot in Arizona. How can you stand it?: Arizona heat? Not a problem! It's not white, and I don't have to shovel it. The farm we had in Minnesota had a 1,500-foot driveway. I remember winter mornings. I had a Ford Explorer. I would take Alisha to work with me, and my mom would watch her. Diane was teaching school. I would get fifty, maybe 100 feet into the driveway if I was lucky, and get stuck. I'd bundle Alisha up. Run her up the other 1,400 feet to the house, then get out the tractor. Clear out the driveway, pull the Explorer the rest of the way in, and work my horses. At the end of the day, I'd clear the driveway again so I could go home. It really got old.
Is Diane still teaching in Arizona?: When we moved to Arizona, we decided she would stay home and help me. She and my mom run the office. My folks live on the farm with us, in their own home. My mom does all the show entries - she types every one, so the show secretaries love her! When we're gone, my dad runs the place and watches over it. He's the one I rely on to make sure everything is taken care of. It would be impossible to run the business without all of our participation.
What does your family do for fun?: We usually try to do something a couple of times a year - planned trips for family time. We always make it a tradition since moving to Arizona to go to Disneyland for the Christmas decorations. The kids really enjoy that. And then we try to take a vacation in the summertime. Last year we went to Hawaii. The four of us went with some clients who are friends of ours. This year we're going to take an Alaskan cruise. We've been to the Bahamas.

I golf. Not as much as I like to. The horses consume a lot of our time. We bring our kids to most of the shows, so they're part of our family time. If I go away by myself it leaves Diane and the kids home, so I don't get to see them. Man . I wouldn't see them four months out of the year! So we bring them to as many shows as we can.
Do the kids comprehend the business you're in?: Yes. My daughter gets real upset when I go to Nationals and don't win those pretty red roses! She doesn't understand why. I try to explain to her how hard it is to win them, but she just can't comprehend that. I don't think it's really hit Mitchell, yet. He'll run up and tell me congratulations, but Alisha is the one who is standing at the gate, and before I can get out with the horse, wants to grab that ribbon!
Do they like to ride?: Alisha's done leadline at Scottsdale. I think she has enough interest in it that she'll want to do some of it. We've been reluctant to push it on them because we want them to do it themselves. Mitchell likes grabbing my halter whip a lot! He wants to grab the whip to hit his sister, and she wants the ribbons!
What are their interests outside the horses?: They like their little pony, Hotpants. They ride her a little bit. Alisha is reading up a storm. She learned to read a few months ago and reads everything in sight. For Mitchell it's tractors. Tools. Driving his sister crazy. Typical boy stuff!
Do you have an all-time favorite horse?: No. Probably not. I have some horses that have stuck out in my mind as really cool ones. Precious As Gold I showed to Top Ten Mare. There was also a little yearling filly that I particularly remember named Follow My Star. I remember showing her at the Wisconsin Badger Show, and there were thirty-four fillies in the class and she won. There were over twenty two-year-olds, and she was Junior Champion Filly so she beat almost sixty horses in one morning. That was fun and memorable.; We stand a stallion named Psyches Legacy who was Top Ten Futurity Colt at the Nationals in 2000. He's been a big thrill and probably one of the best horses I've experienced or been a part of. I just showed one of his first babies at Del Mar to a Junior Championship so he has his first champion. He's a pretty big part of what we do here and I'm really excited about him.
What about a memorable moment for you in the showring?: My earliest big memory was at the big MAHA show, and I showed a Half-Arabian named NS Bonnie Lass. It was one of the first times I had shown her. Back then they used to have a Supreme Champion for all the purebred Arabian halter horses and one for all the Half-Arabian halter horses. I was seventeen, eighteen years old, and she won that Supreme Championship for the show. So that was probably my first big memory.

Much later, I had a filly named Fortune N Gold that won unanimously the yearling filly class at the Scottsdale All-Arabian Show three years ago. That was a lot of fun. That was my first big win at Scottsdale. And in 1997, Diane won the Scottsdale Amateur gelding championship with our horse,
SCC Tiburon.

Do you coach Diane?: Oh brutally! It works out okay, though. She knows I'm all smoke!

What do you consider your forte in the Arabian business?: We sell a lot of horses. I've lost track, but since moving to Arizona we've sold about 140 head. I recently sold a very nice group of horses, and the buyer asked me what makes me so good at selling horses. I responded that it's because I believe in what I'm selling. I wouldn't sell anybody a horse that I wouldn't buy myself. And if I had the money, I would own them all! I would. I am just hook, line, and sinker into these Arabians, and if I had the money, I would own every one of them.
You seem particularly relaxed and easygoing at the shows . not the typical MO for a halter trainer!: I like everything about the shows. You work so hard at home. You get the babies trained and schooled, and you get them in shape. You go to the horse show, and that's where you reap your rewards for your hard work and effort. It's great to show them and have them win or to sell them and show them for the new owner. I just really enjoy the horse shows. Growing up in Minnesota, hearing and reading in the magazines about California - that was something that I really wanted to do . show in California. Still, after four years living in Arizona, going over to Santa Barbara or Del Mar is a hoot! I just laugh the whole time, because it's something I never thought I'd be able to do, and here I am not only doing it, but doing it successfully. I'm having a ball!
So you don't get stressed at all at the shows?: I'm not as uptight at horse shows as I used to be. I realized at a certain point that if your horses are fit and they are prepared, you pretty much pay your money and take your chances. You can't make the judges' decisions for them. The only time I get uptight at a horse show is if I don't feel like I'm getting what I deserve. I never feel like I should get more than I deserve, but I at least want to get what I deserve. As long as that's happening -and if that means champion or that means a second place or a third - so be it.
Anything you dread about horse shows?: Dread? The drive home after a bad show. Fortunately, that doesn't happen too often.
What have you learned by being part of the Arabian horse business?: Patience.
Were you not a patient person?: I'm told I was kind of impatient. Now, having dealt with so many different horses and people - good and not so good - I have acquired more patience through the years. You know, they're all different and you can't treat them the same. It's a great opportunity to grow.
Where do you see yourself at 65?: Probably I'll still be in horses. As I get older, I'd like to get my judges card. I'd like to keep broodmares and a stallion or two and raise and sell babies. If my business was gone tomorrow, I'd still have my horses. I'm one of those trainers that if I couldn't own my own horses, I wouldn't do this because my own horses are kind of my therapy and they're fun. Diane kills me because I'm always looking for some new project. I just love to own them.
Any regrets?: No, never. I just shake my head. I'm so thankful that I can make a living at something that I enjoy so much. Greg Gallún teases me all the time because I go to every single horse show that there is! I do! Greg always says, "Jay Allen. What are you doing at another horse show?" I love it!
Any special rewards?: Growing up in Minnesota, I used to see the pictures of the Santa Barbara show with some of those famous stallions that won the Joanna Phillips Award trophy for the Arabian Show Champion Breeding Stallion. Looking at those in the magazines - wow. Years later I won the stallion championship and got my picture taken with the huge trophy that I'd admired growing up. That was a big deal for me. At that show, I won both the stallion and the gelding championship. For somebody growing up in Minnesota and seeing that in the magazines, it was a huge deal.

I have the utmost respect for all the trainers out here in the West. California and Arizona are just full of great horses. We own our own farm - we could never have done it without the help of my folks. I have my parents. My family. My health. And God watching over us all. I am blessed.

Golden Ridge Farms
Jay & Diane Allen
35444 N. 11th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85086
tel/ 623-516-0691
fax/ 623-434-3186
e-mail allengoldenridge@aol.com

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