Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesley Jenks.
Lesley, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started riding horses at 13. What started as a hobby became all consuming, and I ended up starting my own business Finally Farm LLC in 2007 after leaving Corporate America when I had my daughter Finley. What started as a few students around town grew into leasing a facility in Raleigh where I boarded horses, offered training services and also created the Finally Farm Horse Show Series. As my business grew considerably I moved a few times to better suited and larger facilities in Wake County, but they could not all support the traffic associated with the horse shows. In July 2025, I was presented with the opportunity to lease my current facility in Apex. This gave me the opportunity to resurrect my Show Series. Over the years I have trained and shown horses and riders of all levels and they have been competitive both locally and nationally. I most enjoy bringing along the young horses and giving them a solid foundation and introduction to the horse show world. I also have had significant success restarting horses and riders with past baggage and fears that need to be worked through. My Show Series offers affordable one day local show options for those that are not ready or cannot afford to show at the rated levels. I have watched hundreds of kids and horses locally get their start at my shows, and I have enjoyed watching them progress over the years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing about the equine industry is smooth or easy. The biggest challenge has been that I have always leased my facilities, I have never owned my own. The biggest struggle my business has faced was losing the location I had leased for 13 years and grown my business to one of the biggest in the Wake County area. The owners decided to go a new direction with their property and I had to relocate to the other side of the County to a much smaller facility and one that could not accommodate the traffic of my horse shows. That cut my annual income in half. The facility where we were for 3 years was lovely, but it just wasn’t meeting the needs of my business.
As you know, we’re big fans of Finally Farm, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My business offers horse boarding, training, sales, coaching and horse show services. I run all aspects of the business myself.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Only the people closest to me realize that I have an Autoimmune Disease which can make the physical demands of my job really difficult sometimes. Most people just see me as someone who is always on the go, and always gets everything done. As I get older (53 this July) I am starting to slow down a little bit when my body doesn’t want to keep up, and that is new for me, and has been difficult for me to navigate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.finallyfarmnc.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/finallyfarm
- Facebook: Lesley Jenks Finally Farm
