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Jayma and Maggie, one of her two Jack
Russell terriers, take a moment from her busy day to
enjoy one of the first pretty days of the year.
Jayma enjoys fishing in the pond when she has time
to sneak away from chores. |
Jayma Shomaker of McKenzie's Shomaker Farms is living a
dream. Amidst acres and acres of black-fenced pastures,
the 27-year-old natural beauty spends her days breeding,
raising and riding the farm's 62 American Quarter Horses,
many of which are the offspring of the farm's two prized
stallions, world champion racer "Shoot Yeah" and the
highly pedigreed barrel racer, "Request Tenn Honors".
The daughter of Ronnie and Martha Shomaker, Jayma grew up
around horses on the family farm. By age ten she was
riding her first barrel horses in competition. After
graduating from McKenzie High School in 1992, her love for
the animals led her to attend Murray State University
where she studied Animal Health Technology. After
graduation, the family farm served as a base for plying
her trade as well as barrel racing, a sport she enjoyed
through 1997, when her work took on a new direction. She
started breeding her own mares in 1998 and brought her
first stud to the farm in 1999.
"That's all I do is just breed horses, raise babies and
try to break them out and ride them, then sell them,"
Jayma says with a smile. She traveled to Colorado to learn
more about equine reproduction, artificial insemination
and cooled semen shipping at Colorado State University.
"I always wanted to work with horses, this was just the
next avenue - I can't break colts forever," says Jayma. At
the suggestion that she is pretty tough to do the work she
does, she declares, "Pretty tough or pretty stupid! My
body tells me every morning I'm pretty stupid."
Pretty smart is another good description for the woman who
has brought the farm into the new millennium with
technology that is a tremendous breakthrough for the horse
industry. While far from a new technology - the first
equine pregnancy from frozen sperm was reported in Guelph,
Ontario in 1957 - the American Quarter Horse Association
first allowed the shipping of semen around 1997-1998,
though Jayma says, "the walking horse people have been
doing it for a long time."
It's a business that will cause a cowboy to blush, but
Jayma says, "It's just like breathing to me." She carries
out the process with casual professionalism and the
attention to detail that is necessary in running a
successful operation. Behind her office is her laboratory,
and off a door on either side of the lab is the station at
which the sperm is collected and the stalls where
artificial insemination takes place.
Jayma and assistant, Carlos Martinez.
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Once collected, the semen must be processed
immediately. She checks a sample for viability and runs it
through a decimeter that counts every particle, letting
her know how to "extend" the batch. A good sample shows
healthy sperm moving in a forward direction (instead of in
circles) with normal conformation rather than the two
heads or two tails that is sometimes seen. The decimeter
count reveals the number of breedings that can be
supported by the collection. "One collection can breed
eight to 20 mares," Jayma says, as opposed to only one
mare with "live covering."
Based upon the decimeter count, a proportion of "extender"
is added to the product. The extender is a milk-based,
protein and energy-rich substance combined with an
antibiotic that supports the sperm cells. When the
collection is to be transported, the semen is placed
immediately into a shipping container with a "cooling
can".
The cooled semen has a short shelf life as compared to
frozen semen which may be stored indefinitely, although
AQHA regulations limit insemination from frozen sperm to
December 31 on the year the stallion dies.
Artificial insemination has revolutionized the breeding
industry, cutting costs while making bloodlines easily
accessible across the nation and the world. Previously,
with the mare being shipped to the stallion's location,
along with the stress and liability of the trip,
additional costs were incurred in "mare care" - boarding,
veterinarian bills and the like.
While Jayma has shipped cooled semen all over the United
States and into Canada, she also uses artificial
insemination exclusively on her own turf. More economical
and less stressful than traditional breeding, Jayma
acknowledges "there's risk every time you mess with a
stud."
Jayma handles the stud, leading him into the barn where he
is "teased" by a waiting mare, then mounts a dummy horse
constructed from a water heater covered with foam and duct
tape. Jayma's assistant, Carlos Martinez of Trezevant,
collects the sample.
Jayma demonstrates the process of
packing semen for shipping. |
After processing in the lab, the sample is injected
through a hand-guided tube into one or more mares. The
success of the venture is evident in the new foals that
are appearing as pretty as new flowers across the
landscape of Shomaker Farms.
"We've had six so far this year with eight to go," says
Jayma. With broodmares sporting bloodlines like Doc Bar,
Doc O'Lena, Jet Deck, Mr. Hay Bug, Tonto Bars Hank, Bold
Ruler, Easy Jet, Moon Deck, Go Man Go, Lad's Magnolia, Jet
of Honor, Leo, Pie in the Sky, Casady Casanova, and Jet's
Pay Day, Jayma's yearlings start at $2,000 with two-year
olds bringing between $2,500 and $10,000.
Jayma believes a horse's quality is determined "on the dam
(mother) side. If she is a producer of horses that have
done something on the track or barrel pen, her babies are
more likely to be winners. On the breeding cross, I
personally believe it's 80% mare, 20% stud as far as
ability is concerned. If you breed to a dink mare, you
might just have a dink colt that's out of a good daddy.
That's just my opinion, other people might not agree."
It's a theory that would be hard to prove on the Shomaker
Farm, where all the mares are bred to either 17-year old
racer Shoot Yeah or six-year old barrel-racer Request Tenn
Honors.
Shoot Yeah is a world champion, earning $304,143 in his
racing career as a two-year old and early three-year old.
He was the fastest qualifier and winner of the Sun Country
Futurity and winner of the Kansas Futurity. He was the
fastest qualifier in the 1987 All American Futurity. He
has sired 127 winners, 14 Stakes winners, 146 Roms, and 5
superior racehorses for total earnings of over $1.8
million. Request Tenn Honors is a barrel racer with a
winning bloodline over several generations.
Jayma plans on branching out the services offered by
Shomaker Farms to include inseminating mares from other
owners onsite, as well as standing stud at the farm for
other stallion owners who may cater to mares on site or
have semen shipped to other locales.
She is currently standing Ron Hornbech's cutting horse
stallion, Lil Bit 'o Hickory. From Dickson, Tennessee,
Hornbech was able to avail himself of the facilities
offered at Shomaker farms that are not available at many
farms.
"I'd like to stand more studs for other people; do more
for the outside public I guess you might say," Jayma says,
considering the future.
Work takes up most of her time, but she's not complaining.
"I do this seven days a week," she says, "When I have time
I like to go to horse shows but right now we're just too
busy." Luckily, Jimmy Allen of McKenzie is on hand at the
farm to help take care of the horses and keep the fences
in good repair.
Jayma admits to sneaking out to the pond to fish when days
are nice, and spends a good bit of time with her two Jack
Russell terriers, Maggie and Curly Sue and Legend, one of
the biggest rotweillers around, plus a myriad of cats that
mosey in and out of the office.
Living a dream and loving it, Jayma knows she is one lucky
girl. And with hard work and ambition her constant
companions, it's likely the best is yet to be. Happy to be
walking in her own shoes, Jayma is thankful for her many
blessings. Shoot yeah, she's honored. |
