Becky Zinke

Becky got her start with horses as a 7 year old child in the vibrant Fox Hunting community of Wayne, Illinois. Becky progressed from short stirrup lesson kid to working student under the guidance of Bill Muenzenmay and Lynda Zema of Dunham Woods Farm. From there Becky attended college classes at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, working at the Horse Center and majoring in Equine Science and worked full time breaking young horses for a local western trainer. But the love of the hunter world and jumpers was just too strong and Becky relocated back to Chicago, taking a position as assistant to Mary Sayre and studying classical Dressage under Gayle Histed of Wayfarer Farm, eventually landing her an apprenticeship with John and Jan Schomburg. John and Jan showed her the ropes of the hunter/jumper business and propelled her toward opening Fair Chance Farm in 2002.

Becky is an ARICP Level II instructor in Hunt Seat and Barn Management with a strong belief that hard work and horsemanship go hand and hand with riding and the love of horses. It is that philosophy that makes Fair Chance Farm a unique place where people from all walks of life and level of experience can come and get their “fair chance” to learn about horses and riding and horsemanship.

Fair Chance Farm offers a training program catering to those who have a hands-on philosophy to horses and riding. We are a self service but fully assisted barn which encourages riders to care for their own mount with on-site staff providing instruction from the ground up for all levels of rider. Common sense horsemanship and classical riding techniques in huntseat and equitation are taught here with a strong emphasis on solid flatwork. We attend 6-8 NIHJA shows and 1-2 Open shows annually.

Additional opportunities for students include in-house lease or shareboard arrangements as well as sales.

Training is available for horses from seasoned campaigners to untouched youngsters, green horses welcomed and a specialty.

Rebecca a Zinke, 21 Matts Road, Fox Lake, Il 60020