One might wonder how a young boy, born on a military base in Gelnhausen Germany, would ever end up being such a great horseman. Moving to New Mexico at a young age introduced him to the western way of life. But as Jody is fond of saying “Horsemen and Women are born, not made.”
From Jody’s first memories, all he has ever wanted was to be the best horseman that he could be. He recalls one of his first rides on a pony at age four. While on the pony’s back the pony turned around grabbed him by the leg and pulled him off of his back. Most young kids would have been traumatized by such an event, not Jody, the only thing that concerned him was what he had done to get that reaction from the pony.
     One of his first horses, an Appy gelding that his parents purchased for $125.00, took three weekends to load in a trailer. Again most people would have given up and moved on. Jody was determined to get this horse home. This horse was one of his best equine teachers in the life long journey of becoming a great horseman. Not only did he get this horse home, he turned him into a great show horse. Jody and this gelding went on to become the New Mexico Youth Champion several years in a row.
     During his teenage years he spent some time rodeoing and riding bulls. At age 16 he attended New Mexico State’s Farrier Science program, graduated tops in his class and obtained the title Master Certified Farrier. His life has always been in the livestock industry. He has never detoured from the path of becoming a great horseman. Traveling down this path led him to Alaska, where he was able to observe and capture the feral horses that were on the Aleutian Islands. He turned several aged studs that had never seen a human into great saddle horses. The string of horses that he captured and started were used to gather and work the wild cattle and caribou (reindeer); in fact gathering 7500 caribou on a 650 sq. mile island was quite a feat. 

     Upon returning to New Mexico, Jody spent some time in Colorado guiding hunters. This adventure led him to Texas and eventually to the small town of Crockett. This is where he met and married his wife Susan. Susan also has the same love of animals as Jody. Growing up on a registered Brangus Ranch, Susan spent her teenage years showing cattle, but always wanting a horse. Once she and Jody married, she realized her dream. Jody has been the biggest influence in her life with horses. Together Jody and Susan have continued down the path that was started when they were both young kids.
     Jody’s methods revolve around the natural instincts of the horse. It is all about getting the human to think more like a horse. Once the human changes their way of thinking a whole new world will open up to them. His methods work for all riding disciplines, as Jody say’s “The foundation is the same, no matter the breed or discipline.”
     Jody was featured in the Western Horseman Magazine in Sept. ‘04 and June ‘05. The articles were about “The Cunningham Foundation Test” a ten-maneuver test that he developed to give you a way to evaluate your horse, a test to see just how “broke” your horse is. These are ten basic moves that every horse should be able to complete before you ever consider him “broke.” When properly applied Jody’s methods work on every horse.