Jenny Lindsey-Wetterstrom is a woman who has found her joy in the world and multiplied it through the pursuit of her hobbies. Her life is an inspiring blend of learning and living fully, and every day brings new adventures, from racehorses to sled dogs to bird dogs.
As a child, her parents helped her pursue her passions and she is quick to say how grateful she is for the opportunities they provided her and for raising her in such a supportive Christian home.
Jenny’s mother loved animals, and they always had dogs around the family home. Growing up in Minnesota, wintertime was long lasting, so young Jenny needed activities to stay occupied. The local 4-H program offered a dog training program that she participated in, expanding to do agility and obedience work with their family dogs. Her passion for dogs grew, although she was unaware at the time of the ways in which this early foundation with dogs would benefit her later on.
Her next big love came when she attended church camp–and they had horses. After several years of camp, Jenny was completely hooked on horses. Opportunities continued to present themselves, first with a neighbor who let her ride their horses, and then in middle school when her parents built a barn and brought home her first horse: Abbey. Abbey was a retired Arabian broodmare who was calm and quiet.
About a year later, Jenny joined the U.S. Pony Club, and started taking her skills to the next level. This national organization empowers youth to learn everything from vet care to competition skills to horse training. Her partner for pony club came in the form of a horse named Quincy. Quincy was purchased for $1,800 and Jenny and her parents each paid half. She would have this dream horse of hers for 21 years, during which time they had endless adventures together.
Jenny competed in three-day eventing, cross country, and show jumping until she aged out of Pony Club at 21 years old. On the side, she competed in local playday shows, running barrels and doing western pleasure. She even had the opportunity to be coached by an Olympic qualifier. By the time she graduated from the program, Jenny had built upon her bareback riding foundation and achieved 16 ratings–a life changing amount of education in the horse world.
Always highly motivated, Jenny graduated high school early, and began envisioning new things for the future. She’d worked with a racehorse trainer for several years, and had the chance to travel to Oklahoma for races during the winter months. When she first saw the prevalence of horses in OK, she was enamored and knew she wanted to move there one day.
She would later do just that, moving to OK to work in the racehorse industry. She had her assistant trainers license for the racetrack and soon applied for the trainers test too. She went on to train for the leading owners in the state, breaking and training everything herself.
One horse in particular that she started was not seen as much in the eyes of others, but she was something special to Jenny. Although Jenny felt confident in the horses’ abilities, Jenny was young, and people relied on the words of the older trainer who thought the horse was too fine boned and immature. The horse changed hands, but Jenny’s instinct proved to be right as the horse went on to have lifetime earnings of over $565,000.
Jenny went out on her own for a while, but was always working on the side for Jay Scaramucci, galloping his horses, breaking and training and taking them to out of state races.
During these years she had around 15 bird dogs and would hunt them before and after work. She was getting more and more tired of being at the race track all the time, and just wanted to break horses. When she was offered the opportunity to work for Scaramucci full-time at his Willow Ridge Farm in Norman, Oklahoma, she accepted.
This is the role she still holds today. At Willow Ridge Farm, she manages all the racehorses and a staff of ten people. Together, they care for over 3,000 acres.
Here again Jenny is quick to speak to the blessing, stating that Scaramucci is the most compassionate man to work for. With him, there is never a question about doing what is best for the horse. He doesn’t run a sore racehorse, never hesitates to call the vet and get every horse what it needs, and when the horses reach retirement age, they have a forever home in his pasture till their death. Jenny remembers one horse in particular that had bowed tendons. Scaramucci let the horse heal but even after he was healed didn’t want to put him back into the stress of racing. Instead, the horse later stood at stud before enjoying life in the pasture.
Not only is the job at Willow Ridge a great environment, but it has allowed her to continue to pursue her dog passions. While bird dogs are her main focus, she still has some of her retired sled dogs from when she competed in sled dog races up North. Today, she cheers on her friend’s son in the Junior Iditatord and reminisces on the joy of watching a well paired team do their job and the love they have for it. She also has become something of a self-taught wolf expert while exploring her love for dogs and wildlife.
Her experience with dogs is as expansive as her knowledge, and she has owned most of the popular pointing breeds. Her first shorthair Gunner was a gift from God who knew what he was doing instinctually. She hunted him for 15 years. She now has a few favorites including Mike (a direct son of Hall of Fame National Champion 1979 Johnny Crockett), Rooster, and Henrik.
Today, she runs her kennel Willow Ridge Setters, and her husband David Lindsey runs his Wahoo Kennels. They share the joy of bird dogs together and are always looking for the next best dog.
Jenny remembers the old saying “you get one good dog, one good horse and one good man”. She has a different take on it–and says, “I believe there’s more than one good dog and one good horse, and you’re truly blessed if you have the opportunity to love and spend life with a good man. I am blessed now and have had many good dogs and horses. “
Her passion for life and joy in every moment with animals is clear, and Jenny remains an inspiration to all those who love the land and its creatures.
