Double J Riding Club Camps and Youth Programs
Double J Riding Club, 10545 W. 74th Street, Countryside, IL 60525
About
Double J Riding Club Camps and Youth Programs include daily 45 minute entry level riding lessons, horsemanship lessons, and riding games such as gymkhana day, keyhole, relay races on horseback, flag race, egg and spoon, hot potato, and musical horses. Campers take part in activities like grooming and tacking a horse, learning about horse breeds and colors, giving a horse a bath, finger painting a horse, making and feeding homemade horse cookies, and creating horse crafts and photo boards. The program also includes learning about, interacting with, and caring for horses and farm animals through farm tours, farm trivia, bingo, scavenger hunts, field games, science experiments, art projects, and meeting animals on the farm, along with options such as Tiny Animal Adventures caregiver and tot classes, farm school, early childhood classes, homeschool courses, community group field trips, birthday parties, craft workshops, and scout badge opportunities.
• Ages: 1–16 years old
• Schedule: Single Day Horse Camps run in spring, fall, and winter from 10:00 am–3:00 pm, with summer single-day and week-long horse camps offering approximately 5-hour days in different time blocks, plus intermediate and advance week-long summer camps that run 5 days from 8:00 am–1:00 pm; before and after care is available from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.
• Price: Single Day Horse Camp is $120 per day; week long horse camps cost $495 per week for a 4-day week and $590 per week for a 5-day week; intermediate and advance horse camps each cost $575 per 5-day week; before and after care is $7 per hour.
The program offers a Friday Farm Tour that lasts 45 minutes and is open to ages 1 and up, where children can feed snacks to animals on the farm, search for eggs in the chicken coop, visit tortoises, coax pigs out of Piggy Palace, and feel the tip of a horse’s nose. Tiny Animal Adventures is a caregiver and tot class for ages 1–4 that includes listening to a story, creating a craft, playing a game, and making food for animals. Before and after care includes low-key activities such as free play, board games, puzzles, art projects, and movies, and campers are grouped first by friends or family and then by age, with groups going up to 7 campers.
The leadership team includes Cindy Johnson (Owner), Haley Johnson (Riding Instructor, Event Coordinator & IEA Coach), Kathy Jachymczyk (Riding Instructor & Show Team Coach), Ryan Cunningham (Education Program Director), Sara Parks (Riding Instructor), Lisa Ostrego (Early Childhood Instructor), Brett Graves (Animal Outreach Coordinator), Grace Seter (Farm House Instructor), and Natalie Connolly (Head of Horticulture). Staff credentials include backgrounds in hospitality and tourism management, environmental science and ecology, environmental biology, biology, recreation management and environmental studies, and sustainable urban horticulture, agriculture, and environmental justice, along with extensive riding and teaching experience. Kathy Jachymczyk’s credentials include a 2022 USDF bronze medal on OTTB Sock Monkey, 2022 ECP level 1 certification, multiple USEA medals at beginning novice and novice levels, participation in the American Eventing Championships with noted placings and TIP awards, and Area 4 USEA awards including beginner novice horse of the year and area champion.
The mission statement for Double J Riding Club states that the program is committed to offering safe, educational, and enjoyable classes both on and off the horse, that it focuses on watching confidence grow through relationships with horses and other animals, sharing the farm with families, horse and animal lovers and kids of all ages, letting students experience up close and personal relationships with animals, allowing people to discover and explore their passions, and fostering respect for the natural world. Testimonials from parents and visitors describe experiences that include Jr. Farmers Camp with weekly subject focuses, stories, crafts, science experiments, games, making homemade treats for animals, feeding and visiting animals, and ending each day with a horse riding lesson, as well as birthday parties with many animals and guided activities, riding lessons with patient barn staff and many horses for all levels, and group outings where girls participated in every activity and some became interested in lessons.
Last updated January 5, 2026.
• Ages: 1–16 years old
• Schedule: Single Day Horse Camps run in spring, fall, and winter from 10:00 am–3:00 pm, with summer single-day and week-long horse camps offering approximately 5-hour days in different time blocks, plus intermediate and advance week-long summer camps that run 5 days from 8:00 am–1:00 pm; before and after care is available from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.
• Price: Single Day Horse Camp is $120 per day; week long horse camps cost $495 per week for a 4-day week and $590 per week for a 5-day week; intermediate and advance horse camps each cost $575 per 5-day week; before and after care is $7 per hour.
The program offers a Friday Farm Tour that lasts 45 minutes and is open to ages 1 and up, where children can feed snacks to animals on the farm, search for eggs in the chicken coop, visit tortoises, coax pigs out of Piggy Palace, and feel the tip of a horse’s nose. Tiny Animal Adventures is a caregiver and tot class for ages 1–4 that includes listening to a story, creating a craft, playing a game, and making food for animals. Before and after care includes low-key activities such as free play, board games, puzzles, art projects, and movies, and campers are grouped first by friends or family and then by age, with groups going up to 7 campers.
The leadership team includes Cindy Johnson (Owner), Haley Johnson (Riding Instructor, Event Coordinator & IEA Coach), Kathy Jachymczyk (Riding Instructor & Show Team Coach), Ryan Cunningham (Education Program Director), Sara Parks (Riding Instructor), Lisa Ostrego (Early Childhood Instructor), Brett Graves (Animal Outreach Coordinator), Grace Seter (Farm House Instructor), and Natalie Connolly (Head of Horticulture). Staff credentials include backgrounds in hospitality and tourism management, environmental science and ecology, environmental biology, biology, recreation management and environmental studies, and sustainable urban horticulture, agriculture, and environmental justice, along with extensive riding and teaching experience. Kathy Jachymczyk’s credentials include a 2022 USDF bronze medal on OTTB Sock Monkey, 2022 ECP level 1 certification, multiple USEA medals at beginning novice and novice levels, participation in the American Eventing Championships with noted placings and TIP awards, and Area 4 USEA awards including beginner novice horse of the year and area champion.
The mission statement for Double J Riding Club states that the program is committed to offering safe, educational, and enjoyable classes both on and off the horse, that it focuses on watching confidence grow through relationships with horses and other animals, sharing the farm with families, horse and animal lovers and kids of all ages, letting students experience up close and personal relationships with animals, allowing people to discover and explore their passions, and fostering respect for the natural world. Testimonials from parents and visitors describe experiences that include Jr. Farmers Camp with weekly subject focuses, stories, crafts, science experiments, games, making homemade treats for animals, feeding and visiting animals, and ending each day with a horse riding lesson, as well as birthday parties with many animals and guided activities, riding lessons with patient barn staff and many horses for all levels, and group outings where girls participated in every activity and some became interested in lessons.
Last updated January 5, 2026.
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