Page 71 - June 2018 Speedhorse

this side of it. There’s a lot more to this than what I thought. I see how good the horses are taken care of and how well they are kept. It’s like, okay, I’m putting my money on good horses with good people taking care of them. Maybe next time I’ll bet a little more. This has been a great experience. I’d love to do this again.”
Reyes and his fellow students are from a public high school that offers programs of choice providing pathways to possible careers, including not only veterinary studies but also sports medicine, education and training for child and adolescent development, landscape design and even firefighting.
Under the guidance of Kelsey Sullivan and Melanie Sherman, South Grand Prairie’s “vet tech” program works to provide students with strong academic foundations in veterinary studies while preparing seniors for the Certified Veterinary Assistant Exam offered through
Touring the backside.
the Texas Veterinary Medical Association. According to the program’s website, “Students will be well prepared to enter the workforce as a CVA and/or continue their post-secondary education to work towards becoming a veterinary technician or veterinarian. Advanced course work includes study in clinical and laboratory practice, as well as internship completion requirements. Special opportunities include job shadowing, conferences by guest speakers and special event attendance, all of which enhance the student’s experience in the program and provide information about the field of study. Additionally, students have the opportunity to participate in FFA, a career and technical student organization dedicated to the advancement of agricultural studies.”
“You have to prioritize the classes, because there is a lot of information you need to obtain over the four years,” says Jett Rush, 18, who was a few short
Racing steward Jerry Burgess, who was a top jockey riding the earners of over $5.8 million, does what he can to sustain and expand what has been his life’s work – racing. “We need everybody, we care about each of them and we want to help them out on their journey,” he says.
weeks from graduating as a Student Leadership Team member. “I know there are a lot of things I wish I’d done differently. You really have to focus on the classes you need. These aren’t classes you can blow off and get an easy A. You actually have to pay attention, take notes and study.”
It pays off.
“I think our kids are really helped by this program,” says Kelsey, who grew up in Fort Worth and earned her degree in animal production with an equine emphasis at Tarleton State University. “Most of these kids don’t have a lot of experience with large animals, so this gives them another passion that they could have, another road of action, something else that they possibly could do as a career. Just being around horses makes a lot of kids realize that maybe there is something to working with large animals, that yeah, they do like horses. It lets the kids decide whether this is something they want to do before they are accepted in college.”
Some of the horses joined the kids to listen to the speakers.
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