OklahomaHorses Magazine January 2022

January/February 2022 • OklahomaHorses 27 For more information, contact BioZyme Area Sales Manager Maverick Squires (405) 234-0965 or visit www.vitalizeeq.com. training for a quarter and ultimately work for those employers. One student went to Afghanistan, serving in the Army, and helped assist as an equine adviser. We’ve had kids qualify for the AQHA World Show,” Schuerman says. “One student went to work for Calumet Farms, a renowned Kentucky Thorough- bred breeding farm. Another went to South America and worked for a ranch whose owner was president of the Colombian AQHA. We have one working for a former Olympic equestrian. We’ve had a student work for Speedhorse Magazine and a student become an exercise rider for All American Futurity winner Bubba Cascio. I try to find where the students’ equine interests lie and get them with professionals in those areas.” Schuerman says the equine industry is a wide-open field in production, marketing, racing, or performance. “There are a lot of opportunities in the equine field and currently more jobs than I have students to fill them.” In the spring, the students learn the ins and outs of breeding season. Schuer- man says they learn about reproduction by doing all aspects surrounding artificial insemination except for the insemination process itself. The instructor does that; however, “if students can demonstrate that they can pass pipettes, I will allow them to breed Mid-America mares. We also act as a reception center for shipped semen, and the students have trained quite a few stallions to the breeding dummy.” Schuerman says, “Besides our foals, we also halterbreak outside clients’ foals. “One of our client’s foals that we halterbroke won the All American Futurity (the richest futurity in quarter horse racing) and cur- rently stands at stud at the Lazy E Ranch. We have halterbroken multiple foals for outside owners that have gone on and won high-level races. Several years ago, our students halterbroke the Oklahoma high school rodeo horse of the year.” Building Skills In addition to working with horses, equine production students have had great success competing in SkillsUSA, a national lead- ership association which prepares students for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations, including health. Mid-America recently fielded a team in opening and closing ceremonies that qual- ified for the SkillsUSA nationals and came in sixteenth, “which is quite an accomplish- ment,” says Schuerman. “That’s the first time Mid-America has had a team win state in that competition, so it’s more than just horses. The equine production program has also had a national officer, several state of- ficers, and national contestants in job-skill demonstration and job-interview contests.” The Mid-America Tech equine production program offers morning and afternoon sessions. For more information, visit matech.edu/equine or call (405) 449-7663. The Mid-America Technology Center inWayne offers a comprehensive program in equine production.