Tri-States Grain Conditioning

Once upon a time, movies about the Old West were Americans’ favorite genre of film.

There were good guys and bad guys and it was easy to tell them apart. One typical plot line told the story of a rough Texas cowboy. The reliable ranch hand eventually seeks new adventures, so he joins a cattle drive heading north. Later, he joins a new crew wrangling cattle somewhere in Colorado. But the circumstances of life eventually leave the cowboy downtrodden and destitute. All is not lost! The Texas cowboy is redeemed by a golden girl he meets by chance. The beautiful lass not only knows her way around a horse, but she and her kindly parents welcome him to the prairies of Dakota. The cowboy and the golden girl raise their children and care for their livestock, always struggling against the harsh elements of the Dakota seasons. But love conquers all and the movie closes with their children riding painted ponies in the tall grass as the couple watches the burnt orange sun set in the west. Sound too good to be true? Well, to be honest, it’s actually a pretty good synopsis of the lives of Tom and Jennifer Martinez, who live on the northern edge of Hutchinson County. Jennifer grew up on the Ethan area farm of her parents, LeRoy and Susan Adams. She and her two sisters helped with the dairy cows, beef cows, registered Spotted pigs, and even sheep for a time. “I milked cows until I was a junior in high school. I think that’s something every kid should have to do for at least one summer because I think it teaches responsibility and time management,” Jennifer said. But much of the their lives revolved around horses. Jennifer and her two sisters showed horses for many years and LeRoy raised and sold registered American Paint horse seedstock. Jennifer’s mom and sisters would travel to registered American Paint horse shows to earn points which increased the value of the stock LeRoy was selling. “After high school, I didn’t show horses as much. I kind of switched to the rodeo side. I did a lot of rodeo pageants.” Her crowns included Irene Rodeo Queen, Miss Corn Palace Rodeo, and Miss Dakotah Stampede. Today she actively volunteers on the Miss South Dakota Rodeo committee.

Jen and Tom’s commitment to the world of horses goes further. Jen was part of group that took over the hippology, quiz bowl and horse judging at the Sioux Empire Horse Expo when those competitions were floundering. Another threat to youth horse events occurred when restructuring of the Extension Service left the state with fewer educators to provide training and clinics. Interest waned quickly. Jennifer and her colleagues first re-built a core group of volunteers for the Sioux Empire Horse Expo Youth Day. They were fortunate to receive lots of assistance from McCrossan’s Boys Ranch and other horse producers in southeastern South Dakota.

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Magda and Cash Martinez.

LeRoy and Susan Adams; Cash Martinez; Collin and Mikalena Rupp; and Jennifer, Tom and Blayne Martinez, with Magda in front.

“We always have a horse judging for Hutchinson County here at our place, and we open it up to anybody in the state of South Dakota to participate,” she said. They also helped groups reestablish judging contests in a half dozen spots in the state. There was enough success to add a buckle series last year in southeastern South Dakota.

Participants must be able to judge a horse’s conformation, plus know multiple breed standards and 10 performance classes. Tom said the skills learned in horse judging “are being lost and we don’t want to see them go away. These skills can help them later in life if they’re choosing a rodeo horse or a working cow horse – or if they become any sort of salesperson or need to convince someone of their opinion.”

THE TEXAS COWBOY

Tom’s story starts in New Mexico and west Texas. “My mom was a rancher’s daughter from Pampa, Texas; and my dad was from New Mexico.” Four days after graduating from high school in El Paso, he went to work as a ranch hand in central Texas. “I was a ranch hand and manager for 14 years. I put myself through college. When I got out, I didn’t want to do anything but ranch. That’s what I did.” Tom attended New Mexico State University, Tarleton State University and the University of New Mexico.

While he was managing a ranch in Colorado, he became dismayed about big corporations buying ranches as write-offs. “They didn’t care if I killed off every head on the place. They didn’t want to invest in anything on the ranch. So I said I’m not doing this anymore. I know better. And you guys aren’t going to re-train me to do something less than what I was trained to do.”

He moved into the feedlot business and eventually made a home in southwest Kansas. “Me and my exfather-in-law started a 5,000-head growing yard there. I was in the feedlot business for 10 years. My first wife and I went our separate ways, and then I was on my own for four years.” Then a chance encounter changed his life. “Jennifer was judging a rodeo queen contest in southwest Kansas and we met. I had a friend there from Aberdeen, S.D., and Jen was there with friends from Aberdeen, so they were all getting together to catch up. Jen and I were the two fifth-wheels of the group.” Jennifer said, “We didn’t exchange phone numbers. He gave me his phone number and said, ‘If you ever want to talk, give me a call.’” She called Tom a month later and told him she was done with her long-time boyfriend. “When I met Jen, I was so destitute,” Tom said. “I told her I had nothing. How would you like to be her dad when she said to him: ‘I’ve met a man. He’s over 10 years older than me. He’s divorced. His last name is Martinez. He’s got two kids. And he’s coming up to visit.’” Her parents never said a negative word. Tom thought, “Man, there is a sympathetic God.” When Tom’s children, Mikalena and Blayne, came to South Dakota, they opted into the arena of horse shows. But Jennifer made it clear that practices would be hard, but “We’re going to shows to win, and if we have fun while we’re there, great. We may not win, but we’re going to do it right.” Mikalena and her husband, Collin, live in Hesston, Kansas. Mikalena is an RN, BSN in the Trauma-Surgical and Cardio Thoracic Intensive Care Unit at Wesley Medical Center. Collin works with his father at their family-owned business, Rupp Performance Management, an ag recruiting business. They welcomed their first child, Sawyer, in July.