Ranch needs donation to cover need for Mercy

Posted by Nancy Guenther Chapman on September 7th, 2010 at 11:16 pm,
with photos by Photos by Nancy Guenther Chapman unless noted otherwise.

Suzanne Park, left, leads the Bit of Hope Horse Ranch in Monday’s Pio­neer Days parade. Behind her is Alex Schlap­man, 11, on Mercy. Alex spends as much time as she can at the ranch.

The chil­dren from the Bit of Hope Ranch looked happy dur­ing Monday’s Pio­neer Days parade, but they have some­thing on their minds now.

Mercy, one of their beloved horses, is hav­ing surgery at noon today.

“All of our kids are very upset, say­ing their prayers and things like that,” said Shelli Obirek, one of the vol­un­teers who helps Suzanne Park keep her non-profit ranch going.

Full post avail­able to non-subscribers

Mercy has an infec­tion. Vet­eri­nar­i­ans at Sara­sota Equine Asso­ciates were hop­ing they could get at it by pulling a tooth Fri­day, after putting a scope up her nose to pin­point the prob­lem. But they’re still not sure where the infec­tion is and they plan to drill into Mercy ‘s skull to get at it.

Mercy is prepped for her exam­i­na­tion last week at Sara­sota Equine Asso­ciates. (Cour­tesy photo.)

The surgery is $2,500. Last week’s vet bill was $560, and Obirek is hop­ing some­one will come for­ward with a dona­tion to help. She is also think­ing there will be some sort of  fund raiser.

“Mercy is going to be OK, but it is a finan­cial set­back on the ranch,” she said. “Besides the surgery, she will have med­ica­tion and follow-up appointments.”

The Bit of Hope Horse Ranch, located off Old Engle­wood Road, began when Park set out to find a com­pan­ion for a horse that “kind of came with the prop­erty.” She dis­cov­ered there were many unwanted horses and began tak­ing them in and reha­bil­i­tat­ing them. Then she dis­cov­ered there were many chil­dren who loved to be around horses and got a lot out of it.

The ranch became as much about the chil­dren as the horses, if not more.

A child escorts Mercy through a pond in the Myakka State For­est in late July dur­ing the Bit of Hope Horse Ranch sum­mer camp.

The kids earn rid­ing lessons by vol­un­teer­ing at the ranch. Park takes them for ice cream and then to church once a week. She plans many activ­i­ties for them; some­times there are sleep­overs in the stalls.

Mercy came to the ranch as a colt, and Obirek thinks she is about 9 years old now. The thor­ough­bred has become one of the “best lit­tle hunter jumpers” at the ranch.

“Any­body can ride her, she’s so patient and kind,” Park said.

Dona­tions can be made to the ranch, at 740 Texas St., or to Sara­sota Equine Asso­ciates, which has set up a fund for Mercy. Call Sara­sota Equine Asso­ciates at 941–907-1147 and ask about Mercy for more details.

Dona­tions can also be taken to the ranch’s Rags to Ranches thrift store, located  in the Engle­wood Square Shop­ping Cen­ter at 499 S. Indi­ana Ave.

For more infor­ma­tion go to http://www.bitofhoperanch.com/, or read http://www.englewoodedge.com/2010/02/06/bits-of-hope-for-youth-and-animals-at-ranch/

Alex Schalp­man, 11, brings Mercy into the St. Raphael Church park­ing lot Mon­day morn­ing, as the Pio­neer Days parade was being staged. Alex made the plas­tic bag neck­lace she put on Mercy.

Mercy got her name when she arrived at the Bit of Hope Horse Ranch as a very mal­nour­ished colt, prompt­ing the com­ment, “Lord have Mercy.” (Cour­tesy photo.)

You can comment on this story below.

If you want to link to this post from your site, use this trackback link.

Leave a reply:

You must be logged in to post a comment.