Page 35 - July 2016

SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS
While the Scarmardo boys grew up, they embraced both their parents’ cattle conglomerate and their passion for horses. And when they got out of college and went to work, Jo then had time to pursue her love for barrel racing at a deeper level.
One by one, the boys invested themselves in the family businesses. These days, Scott, 38, works as general manager at Brazos Valley Livestock Commission, the family’s cattle auction in Bryan. He’s married to Stacey
and they’ve supplied Pete and Jo with two grandchildren: 11-year-old Cade and 10-year- old Carlie.
Craig, 35, works as the main cattle broker at Scarmardo Cattle Company, brokering yearlings and calves for clients throughout the South and Midwest. He and his wife, Ashley, have a 4-year- old boy, Pete, and a 2-year-old girl, Giuliona.
Ty, 28, manages the family’s Lone Star Grain operation, merchandising corn, wheat, soybeans and milo in Central and Southern Texas. He’s married to Haven, and they’re expecting their first child, a boy, in November.
The grandkids love spending time with Jojo and “Petey,” as they call him, and the feeling
is mutual. “I enjoy spending all the time I
can with my family and my grandchildren,” Pete says. “My grandparents and my parents always told me how important family was and instilled that in me. And, we’ve always tried
to keep family and our faith at the top. We go and watch the kids get awards at school, play t-ball and such, and I imagine as they grow we’ll spend even more time with them.
“Yesterday I took my grandson and granddaughter to the ranch and my granddaughter said, ‘Petey, what are you going to do when you get too old to do all this?’ I said, ‘Your daddy will take it on,’ and his brothers, and that’s my goal, to keep it all going and pass it on to our sons and for them to pass it on to their children. I couldn’t do anything without
the support of my wife — she’s been there for me all these years.”
He values his staff as well as his family. “I have good people that I don’t have to look over their shoulders all the time; they’re capable
of taking care of things for me,” he says. “I can’t do it without good people to keep it all running.”
WHAT ELSE IT TAKES
Along with the support and diligence of family and staff, Pete says dedication is what keeps his business growing. “You’ve got to be dedicated enough to take care of it no matter what; to take care of all the details. You can’t take it for granted. In any business now, you’ve got to continue to grow. If you try to stay where you’re at, it gets stagnant. With my sons involved with me, it keeps me trying to think a little more because they’re going to be running the businesses some day.
Johnny would add accountability to Pete’s list of what it takes. “There are a lot of people in our age bracket retiring, sitting on the beach drinking a drink with an umbrella in it,” he says. “Pete comes early and stays late every day. He has a big- time value system and work ethic and he’s raising those boys like that, too.”
Jimmy admires Pete’s commitment to going the extra mile and make sure things are done right, both in his cattle and his horse enterprises. “Here at the farm, he puts in the effort to making his stallions successful,” Jimmy says. “That requires dedication to breed to right mares to them and raise these babies up and campaign them successfully. Not all stallions can make good sires, but these two [Dealagame and Down N Dash] have done very well. Pete’s done a good job marketing them.”
“You also have to have a certain amount of luck,” Pete adds. “You have to compete with the weather and the market and all, and choosing good breedings and keeping the horses sound.
Pete was the 2016 Leading Owner of the Meet at Sam Houston Race Park.
At the track, you might get bumped or get a tailwind, or whatever. God has blessed me over the years; He’s taken care of me and my family and allowed us to do all the things we’ve done.
“I’ve enjoyed everything — except I’d like
to leave out the bad business decisions I’ve
made — but, I’ve loved what I’ve done and have been so blessed. I’ve made a lot of really good friends in the cattle industry, and a whole new set of friends in the horse industry. I’ve met people from all walks of life that aren’t ag-related businesses, and we have horses in common
to bring us together at horse races, sales and association meetings — a whole new set of folks I didn’t know in the cattle industry.”
Those that comprise both sets of friends — old and new — have seen the Scarmardo family, led by Pete and Jo, live their values and ideals and cement their racing and cattle success in Texas and beyond.
“We’ve always tried to keep family and our faith at the top.”
SPEEDHORSE, July 2016 33