Eight years ago, Jessica Thoma lost three limbs and nearly her life following a rare diagnosis. But she found para dressage, and an Andalusian named Manny carried her to a reserve championship at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions this summer.
"Without horses, I would not be here," she said
Thoma grew up in a western riding family in Crossville, Tenn. As a teenager, she discovered English riding and fell in love with jumping. She was working toward competing in eventing, with a schedule full of combined training shows, dressage, show jumping, and cross-country schooling.
Little did she know that when she developed a rash in the spring of 2017, her riding goals would change.
She saw allergists, dermatologists, and her physicians for months without an answer. Joint pain, fatigue, muscle aches, and nausea set in. By fall, her liver and spleen were swollen, and an infectious disease specialist admitted her to the hospital. The doctors there could not find the cause, so she was transferred to a larger hospital. A week after she went home, she was rushed back, critically ill, as her limbs began to die.
This time they finally had a diagnosis: polyarteritis nodosa, a rare disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels, and in turn, can cause organ damage. By then, it was too late to save three of her limbs. She underwent partial amputations of both legs and her left arm on January 3, 2018.
Back in the Saddle
Going from an able-bodied rider to one who had to learn to communicate with just one complete limb was a challenge.
"Learning to walk again, ride again, was all very hard," Thoma said. The horses helped.
"They really kept me going," she said.
After she got back on the old pony who had carried her to her first show, she said, riding became her reason to keep working.
"They have given me purpose. It's everything," she said. While recovering in the fall of 2018, she found para dressage.
"It's been a transition that has been good for me," she explained.
What Horses Teach
Horses have shown Thoma where she needs to improve, both in the saddle and out of it.
"They definitely helped me to see my faults and where I can grow, especially in my body and how I ask for the aids now," she said.
If she is tight in a spot she doesn't realize, the horse lets her know. They also pick up on her mood.
"They're just incredible teachers to help you see your own emotional maturity," she said. "If you come to the barn and you're upset or angry, they're going to know."
In her years with horses, she has learned to keep things cool and calm and to focus on what she needs to do that day. She also finds them therapeutic, particularly when a horse walks up to her, happy to see her.
Her partner at the 2026 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions was Imantado GOM, known as “Manny,” a 2009 PRE gelding (Ruidoso IX x Rey III) owned by Nori Benck and her mother, Tracy. The Bencks gave Thoma the ride after Nori left for college. It was her coach, Patti Gruber, who introduced her to Manny and who helped her get to the Festival of Champions.
Before heading to Festival, they did not have much time together.
Thoma planned to travel north from Tennessee to start schooling Manny once a month, but in March, she broke her leg. Despite that derailing Thoma’s plans, the pair still qualified at Silverwood and at Lamplight in June, but by Festival she had ridden him only about 20 times.
Thoma had also been out of the saddle more than she wanted since her own horse was having issues. Manny is "very sensitive to your body and awareness," she said, so she spent the lead-up to Festival relearning her body and figuring out what he needed from her, and what he didn't.
Asked which athlete or celebrity Manny resembles, she picked Shaquille O’Neal. "He's a very big guy, and he's just very sweet."
Andalusians and Lusitanos are not a common sight at the Festival of Champions, and Thoma is a fan of the breeds, particularly in the para ring. "They're able to take care of you and help you achieve big goals that you want to reach," Thoma said. “They are safe, they have a little spice, and they love to please.”
Becoming Reserve Champions
Thoma and “Manny” arrived at HITS Lamplight Equestrian Center as Festival of Champions rookies and left with reserve honors in the Grand Prix Para Dressage National Championship.
Getting to the event was no small feat and was made possible with the help of family and friends through a crowdfunding campaign. "I would not be here without the support of everybody that has ever believed in me." Her gratitude extends to Gruber, who gave her the coaching and support needed to make it to the competition.
After Festival, Thoma has decided to slow things down. In 2027, she plans to focus on national competitions rather than pursuing FEI. She also has a goal that involves a different horse: she hopes to qualify for Festival with her own horse, Albertus Magnificus, a 2003 Thoroughbred cross gelding (Unknown x Unknown), who is affectionately known as “Albert.”
Her bigger ambition has not changed. “I would love to go as far as I can in the sport,” she said. She counts the current U.S. Para Dressage Team members among her inspirations and says she loves watching para-athletes use different aids than a typical dressage test calls for.
Ask her why horses are everything, and she gives the same answer she started with.
“I would not be here without them.”