Mrs. Alan Taylor (Jenny) - A.K.A. Lady Chelsea
Yes, there was royalty in our midst. Jenny grew up in England, started riding at the age of two, and began hunting at the age of six. Her mother, Naomi Rae DeFerranti, was Master of the Cheshire Hunt from1970-1975, and also at that time, Jenny was made Lady Patroness of the hunt. “I felt I had a good start with having had both grandparents and parent hunt,” said Jenny. After going to Winkfield Culinary College in Ascot, Windsor, Jenny moved to London but always went back home to hunt on the weekends. “I loved those times as my parents would always have a guest to hunt with,” Jenny said. “It usually ended up being a royal guest.”
In London, Jenny fell into her perfect job. “I would be cooking for the Director of the horse racing board at the Jockey Club in Portman Square. “One of the reasons loved working there was they were not too concerned about keeping costs down as I had to cheat a bit after having a hangover some mornings,” giggled Jenny. After a few months working at the Jockey Club she was asked out by Lord Chelsea and six months later they were married. “It was a whirlwind at first; racing, charity parties, shooting parties,” explained Jenny. “But Charles, being ten years my senior, proved to be difficult.” Her marriage fell apart and Jenny’s glamorous life came to a contentious end. At that time Jenny had bought a small cottage which turned out to be located opposite Highgrove in Gloucestershire. She was also hunting with the V.W.H. which stands for the Vale of the White Horse. Soon she moved over to hunt with the Beaufort Hunt and there she became settled and enjoyed being single and still having a life in London.
After some years passed, a girlfriend introduced Jenny to Alan Taylor, an industrialist from Lancashire. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to get married again,” Jenny admitted. “But I realized that Alan and I seem to rub along well.” She and Alan were married two years later.The newlyweds went to Alan’s summer house in Portugal to discuss where they wanted to live. Alan had tired of the weather, the traffic and the politics in England. Jenny wasn’t keen on leaving England but Alan wanted to be able to play golf year round. Jenny insisted they needed to go somewhere where she could hunt, have a farm and a covered arena.
They decided to look across the pond to hunting country in the states. They looked in Aiken and Charleston but they proved too muggy for them both and discovered that the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains offered everything they both wanted. They rented a car in Tryon from Ken Feagin who told them all about the Tryon Hounds. He introduced them to Dean McKinney. Dean showed them one of Tryon Hounds’ favorite fixtures in Caroland farms. Jenny adored the old Iron Bridge and the spectacular horse farms all around. They weren’t having any success however in finding a home in the area. Realtor Madelyn Wallace took them around and showed them two pieces of land in Caroland Farms that were not on the market but felt the owner might be willing to sell to someone with the right vision that would fit with the elegant horse farms in the area.
As luck would have it the owners agreed to sell them forty acres. Alan and Jenny set about building a proper English estate which is now known as Thanksgiving Farm. The Tryon Hounds Blessing of the Hounds has become tradition to be by the Taylors. They host many parties and events at their iconic estate with its stunning sunset views punctuated by the vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Jenny loves that her farm has a jump field at the bottom of the barn in addition to a covered arena as in England she had always kept their horses at a Livery.
Although she and Alan loved the members of The Tryon Hounds, Jenny didn’t really understand how America hunted. Although the hunts here still had a Stirrup Cup of port in the field like at England, we would have a lawn meet or meet at a pub and there would always have a Whiskey Mac made up of whiskey and ginger wine. “It would warm the cockles of your heart while we hunted for 5-6 hours," Jenny explained.
She also felt they had more rules hunting here. On her first hunt, Jenny decided to ride her Irish Sport horse in Second Flight. Jenny overtook the Field Master, Roberta McKinney. Roberta had to explain to Jenny that if you overtook the Field Master you had to buy her a bottle of champagne. Jenny felt rules were made for breaking so she kept a good supply of champagne on hand.
She came to love hunting in the foothills, the mild weather, the lovely scenery of creeks, hills, woods, even waterfalls. She soon became fully involved and became a member of the Tryon Hounds Board of Directors and has served as Chairman of the Social Committee for several years. They have both met so many wonderful friends both in the hunt field and on the beautiful golf courses dotting the area.
“Back then we rode full out,” Ivey said. There was a lot more open land in the 70’s. They could hunt at FENCE or through the 5000 acres at Fairview Farms before it was developed. Ivey recalled the Huntsman was a Scandinavian fellow named Helga. She recalled a coop in the woods at the Penial Trails that had a barbed wire fence on either side of and when you cleared the jump you would land downhill like they do in eventing. She found it thrilling! One of her fondest memories of Tryon Hounds was galloping with Louise down Little Mountain Road while it was snowing. Snow is a rare occurrence for Tryon which is located in the thermal belt.
Later that night they had an after party at one of the cottages at historic Pine Crest Inn which backed up to a residential neighborhood. “At about 1 0’clock, the deck railing was lined with empty drink glasses and here comes Chip Anderson,” she said. “He whipped out his hunt horn and starts blowing it into the night.” At that point, somebody turned up the music and they all started shagging on the shag carpet inside where she lost her one remaining Birkenstock. Rumor has it that it landed in heavily spiked punch bowl after several people commented on its earthy taste.