about us
Located on a beautifully landscaped 6 acres outside of Chicago, Double J Riding Club provides a safe learning environment for all animal and nature lovers. Whether you are coming for a riding lesson, a farm class, scout badge or celebrating a milestone, we are committed to providing quality education while stimulating and nurturing a love of and curiosity for nature and animals.
- Early Childhood Classes
- Homeschool Courses
- Camps
- Community Group Field Trips
- Birthday Parties
- Craft Workshops
- Scout Badge Opportunities
If you have any questions about our facility or programs, or just want to meet our animals, feel free to contact us. We look forward to meeting you soon.
Meet Our Owners & Instructors
Cindy Johnson
Always having a love for animals, Cindy Johnson founded Double J Riding Club to establish a place where horse lovers of all ages could ride in a safe and beautiful environment, year-round. Cindy handles the day to day operations of the facility along with scheduling and accounting. If you wish to schedule a lesson or have any questions feel free to contact Cindy at doublejridingclub@comcast.com.
Haley Johnson
Graduate from Purdue University in their highly ranked, Hospitality and Tourism Management Field, Haley has been riding for over 20 years and has been apart of Double J from the beginning. Haley runs all the events and camps at Double J Riding Club. She is also one of Double J's riding instructors as well as their IEA coach. If you wish to schedule an event or have any questions about camps or events please contact her at doublejevents@gmail.com.
Kathy Jachymczyk
Kathy has been riding for most of her life and has been teaching for over 10 years. She is an avid Eventer and has been a USEA member since 1999. Kathy has taken part in clinics with Jim Graham, Kim Severson and other top trainers. Kathy is always taking part in clinics, shows, seminars and specialized lessons in order to better her skills as a rider, instructor and trainer. At Double J Kathy teaches Western Pleasure, English Pleasure, Dressage and Jumping to beginner through advanced riders. She also instructs the Summer Camp Program and trains Double J's Show Team.
Cece Grisolia
Cece began teaching at Double J in 2016. Her focus in riding is in dressage. She has shown all over Illinois and Wisconsin in IDCTA and USDF shows as well as in various clinics throughout the midwest. Teaching riders from beginners to advance have become a passion of hers as well as coaching the Interscholastic Equestrian Team.
Tammy Kaspar
Tammy started riding ponies at the age of 8 at Stanley Luke Farm in Countryside, IL in the 1970's. She developed as an English Hunter rider and showed successfully in the Chicagoland Horse Show Association (CHSA) in the 1980's with her own horse and those of others. Attending and learning through training clinics with such master instructors as Jim Graham, Bruce Davidson, Judy Richter, Michael Page, Ken Diercks and Steve Farkos; Tammy has learned through experience and tutelage to ride, understand, train and compete horses. Tammy switched her focus to Eventing and Dressage in the 2000's under trainer Christy Nahser and competed in the Illinois Dressage and Combined Training Association (IDCTA) and United States Eventing Association (USEA) shows and events. In 2007, Tammy and her mare, That Girl, qualified for the American Eventing Championships and competed at Lamplight Equestrian Center finishing in the top half of over 84 competitors in her Division. She has shared her horsemanship, knowledge and experience over the years by instructing students, sharing information and always being helpful to all who are learning.
Amanda Thomsen
Double J Riding Club is proud to welcome Amanda Thomsen to the team! We met Amanda after watching her dazzle WGN with her Around Town segment this summer and are incredibly excited to partner with her! She will be teaching some of our Early Childhood classes and NEW seasonal clinics for adults! Topics will range from gardening, cooking, and a variety of DIY projects!
Amanda is an author, urban farmer, brownie troop leader and overall crafty person. She lives with her husband, daughter, Husky, dachshund/pug mix and cat in Palos Park.
You can read more about Amanda on her website!
https://www.kissmyaster.com/about-me
Rebecca Irwin
Rebecca Irwin started teaching the STEM science courses at Double J in Fall 2018. She has a PhD in Biological Sciences and is a former biology professor and homeschooling mom. She has been developing and teaching science classes for homeschooled kids for over five years, and is thrilled to be sharing her love of science at Double J through activity based classes that focus on understanding and modeling the natural world and using the scientific method.
Ann Roth
I think my passion for teaching and my love of all things outdoor or animal related came from my parents. As a family, growing up in Michigan, we often did outdoor activities together like swimming, skiing, skating, and hiking. In addition, I honestly cannot remember a day where I wasn’t playing outside. I have always worked in some way as a teacher whether it was as a swim instructor and coach or in classrooms working with all ages from preschoolers to adults.
I have a Masters in Education from the University of Michigan and had a career as a Corporate Trainer/Instructional Designer. I was still working as a Corporate Trainer when my husband Dave and I first moved to the Chicago area. While working in the business world I never gave up on my love of the environment and the desire to teach children about nature and our role in protecting the earth. I decided to continue my studies and earned an Aquatic Biology Certification from Shedd Aquarium. After finishing that degree I worked at Brookfield Zoo where I developed and taught programming for all students including children and adults with disabilities. I became Manager of School, Group and Teacher programming and helped to create the School of Environmental Education (SEE Team) with Riverside Brookfield High School. When our daughter came along I decided to be a stay-at-home mom.
My exposure to Double J Riding club came from years of my daughter participating in camps, riding lessons and birthday parties. I feel like it is a little oasis for our children. Seeing that Double J was offering Jr. Farmers and Nature Science classes I just knew I wanted to be a part of the Double J Riding Club team. In addition to teaching about animals and the environment around us, I have walked a sheep, cooked Goat treats, picked grass for the baby cow and given our pigs a “spa day!”
Jennifer Michalski
Hi there, my name is Jennifer Michalski. Art in some medium or another has always been a part of my life and photography is my passion. It is my goal, with photography to help people reconnect with themselves, each other, and the world around them. Photography enables me to reveal parts of the world to others, to see beauty that may have been missed, and, in some cases, remind people of how beautiful they are. I look forward to creating great art pieces and photographs with you!