By Britney Grover
When Jack Towell was 16 years old, his father handed him the keys to the truck and said, “You’ve got to take it from here”—referring to Jack’s passion for horses. Since that moment, he’s been doing whatever it takes to make a life and career in the industry—from selling horse manure and blacksmithing all the way to being inducted into the Show Hunter Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jack and his wife, Lisa, founded Finally Farm in 1982, and went on to become one of the most winning trainers in the hunter world—including of his own children. His daughter, Liza Boyd, earned the Overall World Champion Hunter Rider three times and set records at indoors as a Junior. As a professional, she’s won World Championship Hunter Rider and the International Hunter Derby Finals three times each. Now, Liza has all but taken over Finally Farm in step with her successful career as a top hunter rider. Jack’s son Hardin has his own hunter-jumper business, and his oldest son, Ned, is the Master of Wateree Hounds. “It’s great,” Jack said. “Horses have made our lives—we’ve made money off of them, the children are great children because of horses, and my wife and I’ve had a good, long marriage—and horses didn’t hurt.”
Though Liza has taken over the business, Jack still helps with organization and schooling horses, and judges three or four times a year. He loves living in Camden, South Carolina. “If you’re not into horses, you’re a little different, here,” he said. “People are horse-oriented, even though it’s steeplechase racehorses and not hunters and jumpers, so it’s a nice place to be—everything you need for your horses is here.”
How did your horse career start?
With a little black pony named Cinders that my dad bought and put at my grandfather’s. He had a little red Western saddle, and I dressed up like a cowboy and rode him all over the place.
Best early memories of riding or with horses?
The early memories of riding horses would be trail rides. When you were a kid, you would look so forward to that Saturday morning trail ride—look forward to it all week. You couldn’t sleep Friday night, you’d get up and love it. The only bad thing about it was you were disappointed on the way in because you had to wait another week to go again.
If you weren’t involved with the horse world, what career do you think you would have picked?
I really don’t know what I would have done—I don’t have any desire to do anything else, tell you the truth. I did go to college, and majored in business. That just helped me run my business. I can’t imagine doing anything but horses.
What’s something young professionals should know?
Don’t forget about the past. I was at the age where the very famous riders and trainers taught me; nowadays people might get good training, but they don’t always look in the past. You ask them who a famous rider was, like Rodney Jenkins or Ronnie Mutch, and they don’t know who they were. If you’re going to be a politician you probably know who George Washington was; if you’re going to be a famous rider, you better know who our George Washingtons were.
Have you had a funny horse moment that still makes you laugh?
Sometimes the way horses react—some of them will come in scared to death of you. After you get to know them, you get their confidence right, then they’ll come up to you and you bond with them. A lot of times, horses don’t look like they’re going work out. A very famous pony I had, three times I was going put him on the truck to send him to somebody else to get rid of, and my wife wouldn’t let me. He ended up being Pony of the Year and won the Pony Finals and all that. Don’t ever give up.
What talents do you feel you have?
I might not be the best at anything, but I’m good at a lot of things because I had to be. You had to survive and make a living. But I do think I’m a good judge; I’m very fair. I grew up thinking judging wasn’t all the way fair, so I thought if I ever did it I would be as fair as I could. I’m knowledgeable of what I like personally, but I’m also very fair. That’s one thing that makes a good judge.
If you had a week off, what would you do?
Usually when we have a week off, we go look at horses! There’s seldom a week off without any horses. My wife has made me take a few cruises here in the last couple of years. So we try to do that every summer, take a cruise somewhere. And that’s fun now that we’re older, but it’s always good to get back to the horses.
Where is your favorite place you have been?
We have a little place in Liberty Hill, South Carolina, a second house we got and it’s out in the country. It’s real quiet. It was real big back in the Civil War, and it’s just a very quiet place that I can go to and everything kind of stops when I drive in.
Do you have a personal motto or catch phrase?
An old-timey horseman told me a long time ago, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
Who inspires you?
My wife and my kids—especially my daughter, because I work with her all the time. Liza is just so good about keeping on the bright side of things and keeping going. My wife’s very positive like that, too.
What’s your favorite item of clothing to wear?
My hat—I never take it off.
What’s something everyone should try at least once?
My kids would say broccoli.
What’s something people don’t know about you?
Probably that I’m nicer than they think I am!
Photo:
Jack Towell, right, with his son Hardin.
Photo by Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports
