In 2017 and 2018, Mac Lilley Farms of Dutton, Ont., hosted Mother’s Day Open House events, welcoming hundreds of people to their Standardbred nursery to visit their mares, foals and stallions, and learn about Standardbred breeding and harness racing.

Alex, Sadie (on top of Alex’s shoulders), Coral, Jate, and Laci holding Connor

With Ruleen Lilley as quarterback, these events involved the entire Lilley family along with a small army of friends who also helped out. The most recent Open House in 2018 saw between 350 and 400 guests touring the Mac Lilley operation with visitors coming from as far away as Niagara Falls to visit the farm. The Open House was something the grandkids always enjoyed and this year, Ruleen and Jeff Lilley’s grandchildren wanted to bring the farm to you.

Seven-year-old Jate Lilley, son of Alex and Laci Lilley, takes you on a virtual tour of the farm with some editing and production assistance from his Grama, Ruleen, in this video they hope you enjoy.

Jate was named after one of his great-granddad’s (Mac) favourite stallions, Bo Knows Jate. According to Ruleen, Jate loves life on the farm. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he’s been rescuing salamander tadpoles from a drained pond, playing with his new puppy (Toby) and learning how to ride his bike without training wheels. He loves science and experiments, and won’t allow anyone to cut his hair!

Mac Lilley and his family have been breeding and training racehorses since the early 1970s. They have stood over 50 different stallions and bred over 12,000 mares. Being horse crazy seems to be a predominant family trait as most of the family is actively involved in the sport of harness racing, right down to the grandchildren.