About Jody & Dawn

Their bio…

by Tess Vanattia

Editor & Founder of HorseSouth Magazine

Jody Cook was raised on the same farm where he trains horses today. When he was a boy, the land was used for grazing cattle and the occasional horse was an impromptu luxury that might be sold as quickly as it was bought.

Maybe it was then that he began to form his own way of communicating with the horses that graced his life.

That's not what Jody will tell you though. He will say that the first horse he purchased as an adult patiently tolerated his less than polished attempts at all things equine. Jody Cook is a quiet, unassuming person. His tremendous work ethic was fine tuned on the farm growing up where he watched his grandfather work long hours at his paying job and then come home to more work on the farm.

There is no doubt that Jody has a gift. Some might call him a whisperer, but he would scoff at the idea. He is the type of person that believes that success comes more from dedication, commitment and hard work than from talent. Jody is aware that he has a "knack" or "ability" but he is humble to a fault and will insist that with a combination of the right ingredients ... anyone can do it.

Sharing a Passion

Sometimes it's the people in our lives that perpetuate the journey we take. Jody's wife Dawn is just as passionate about horses and helping people understand them better. A horse person in waiting, Dawn's first personal horse came after she and Jody were married. Similar in some respects to her husband, she had riding experience but no real solid foundation in the art of horsemanship.

Jody would change that, in rather short order.

The more time Jody and Dawn spent with their horses, the more Jody's understanding grew. What he didn't understand, he sought help with. He watched others that are considered masters in this field but instead of duplicating them, he used his new found understanding to form his own techniques, with a fair amount of success very early on.

Some years later, Jody and Dawn are training horses and their people for multiple disciplines. Their own horses are a testament to their ability: light and responsive and a true joy to ride.

Should you visit Jody and Dawn at their barn, be prepared to follow them around while they work. You could find Jody shoeing horses, bush hogging or in the round pen with any number of horses, students or both. Dawn is just as apt to be mucking a stall as she is giving a riding lesson. It's the type of people they are, if there is work to be done ... they will just do it.

If you're lucky, you can join them on a trail ride. If you pay close attention, you'll see Jody turn something as simple as a 15 minute walk through the woods into a training session. He's so rhythmic and quiet in his seat, you have to wonder if even the horse is aware of the lesson?

While Dawn is certainly the more talkative of the two, watch her legs ... pay close attention for tiniest ques. She is a subtle, supple rider.

Watch out for Jody and Dawn's daughter 13 year old Jessica ... quiet like her dad, pretty as her mom she is a firecracker on the back of horse. Barrel Racing is her game and she runs to win. Win is what she most often does! Also blessed with a gift for teaching others to better understand their horses, Jessica just may be the next Charmayne James!

The Cook's share their passion for horses and their love of helping people with each other but more importantly, they put themselves out there ... accessible so that people might ACHIEVE their dreams with horses!