James Mason
In Town: James Mason is a tractor and equipment salesman at Williams Tractor in Fayetteville, Ark. He has worked in that job for the past 8 years. James says he tries to be as knowledgeable as he can on all the different types of equipment sold at the business, “Sometimes you have to research to answer the questions everyone has on each different item.”
On the Farm: James and his wife Pamela raise miniature horses on their farm between Greenland, Ark., and West Fork, Ark. They have 31 horses, eight mares are set to foal this spring. “We raised Quarter Horses and Paints for years and I got injured pretty bad. I got thrown off and basically broke my back. The doctors told me not to ride anymore,” James said.
His wife looked at raising miniature horses and eventually James came around to the idea. That was 22 years ago and since then they have had three American Miniature Horse Registry national championships and one of their Pinto miniatures won the Pinto World Championships.
How do both jobs correleate?
James has a strong farming background. His dad raised horses and milked cows in Wheaton, Mo. His farming background, he said, helps his job at Williams Tractor. “You can relate to some of the problems that the farmers are having on a particular item.” He said that sometimes he gets advice from his customers. “It’s kind of a give-and-take relationship. Once you establish a friendship with a customer, they seem to be your customer for a long time,” he said.
Story and Photo by Trish Hollenbeck
