On the Cover
by Jen Wenzel
Jody Childs
Del Dios Peruvians of California
"Trainer, Instructor & ACTHA Ride Host"
Like many of our sport's greatest riders and teachers Jody grew up on the back of a horse. Mature beyond her years she started teaching lessons at the tender age of thirteen at Michel Manesco Stables in Los Angeles, and taught continuously throughout college. For a number of years Jody followed her chosen career in banking, while returning to competition as an amateur on the A Circuit competing in Hunter/Jumpers. Marriage to a fellow equestrian and the subsequent birth of her daughter in 1991 led Jody back to part time work as a riding instructor. In 1994 Jody started her own training business “Jody’s Training Stables”, north of San Diego, where she went on to raise several successful generations of young hunter/jumpers along with her daughter, whom she coached for more than twelve years, to numerous hunter and jumper Championships.
ACTHA Monthly |February 2015 | 6
Noted American author Henry David Thoreau wrote “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”. And how successful and unexpected would Jody Childs’ life become, after she attended her first ACTHA ride in April 2010.
Photo by Mindy Green