Earlier trials prepare young business owner

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas

August 30, 2001 -- Before she was 12, Jennifer Masters of Dripping Springs says her life was pretty simple.

Then, her life changed, never to be the same...except for her love of animals.

"I was born in Indiana, and my grandpa had a corn farm. My dad wasn't a farmer...he was an electrician, but we always had land. We lived on part of my grandpa's farm.

"I had a little pony...I always had some little pony and some chickens or ducks...," said Masters.

She tells of a time she and friends went to a sale barn in Indiana and she went home with "a lot of chickens." Her mother wasn't too happy, and when she asked why Masters didn't wait and ask permission to get the chickens, Masters told her, "...because I knew you'd say no!"

"When I was 12, our house burned down, and we had to leave Indiana. We moved here, and I didn't have horses for a while then. I just asked every day, 'Can I have one? Can I have one?'" said Masters.

After losing her home and leaving the only place she had known, the move to the Austin area was very hard for Masters. It would be several years before they were able to have a horse, again.

"When we moved here, everybody made fun of me because I was a little 'corn farmer' from Indiana, and I didn't wear Jordache jeans...it was really hard on me," she said.

After a couple of years, she was fitting in with her Texas classmates and the family was able to get another horse. When the economy made a downturn in the mid-80's, the family thought they might have to get rid of the horse, even though Masters had gone door to door in a neighborhood with horses, looking for a place to board her horse.

"...I found this really sweet lady who was older, and she only charged me $20 a month, so I got to keep my horse there," said Masters.

After starting to Austin High, Masters was able to get a transfer to the new Bowie High School where she participated in FFA.

She said the next step was "just automatically" A&M University.

Although neither of her parents were really involved in agriculture, they were very supportive of Masters, financing her degree in Animal Science, which she received in '95.

"I wanted to be a vet. When I was nine, I decided that I was going to be a vet. I (later) worked for a vet for a few years and I realized that I really liked healthy animals a lot more than I liked sick ones.

"It was really depressing and frustrating, because people would bring in these animals that were neglected and sick...like a $3 vaccine would have kept their dog from getting Parvo. It was just really hard on me," said Masters.

Once she was at A&M, Masters had to declare a major, knowing she wanted something to do with animals, and unsure about being a vet.

"When you go into Animal Science at A&M, you can go production, which is like animal production, any kind of breeding farm; you can do science, which is the pre-vet; or you can do industry, which is like working for dog food companies, big (animal) companies, anything like that," said Masters.

"I did the science option, which is the hardest one. You have to do organic chemistry, physics and all that stuff. The other ones, you don't. I thought, 'You know, I might want to go to vet school, later,' so I went ahead and did the harder one."

After graduation from A&M in '95, Masters and her husband (who she married during college) moved to Longview and worked on a show horse farm for a year.

"It was great! I got to show all over...they were Quarter Horses. My husband (also an A&M graduate) was the breeding manager, so I got to work with him. It was a beautiful farm with really nice horses," said Masters.

After returning to Dripping Springs and several positions, all the while giving lessons on her horse, Masters and her dad were able to lease space for a ranch supply store.

After surviving the fire in Indiana, new classmates in Texas and earning her degree at A&M, Masters is finally living her dream...she's around animals and animal lovers on a daily basis.

She said that when people tell her their daughter is crazy about horses, she always advises them to "buy her a horse."

She believes that owning an animal teaches responsibility and keeps kids out of trouble.

"I love it because of all the people that come in...We started out with a lot less inventory, so we just keep putting the money back into it to build up the inventory," said Masters.

"I like talking to customers when they come in. A lot of times I know all about their horses and have seen them and kind of keep up with them. I like being able to help with the training questions.

"People can pretty much ask me anything and I'll be able to help them.

"It's nice to be able to do that...it's nice to be able to use your education. It's amazing what horses will do for people."