“Life without ACTHA, I Don’t Think So”
Jody Childs ACTHA Ride Host
By Jen Wenzel
N
oted 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.
Like many of our sports 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.
Back in early 2002 Jody’s life took another turn when
she was diagnosed with Fibromyal