Ed G
09-24-2007, 04:43 PM
Brian is the co founder of the Annual Florida Moomba Jamboree and good friend of this forum. Brian recently sold his Moomba.
Here is one of the reasons why:
Article in the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper this past Sunday...
A little heart can give horse continued love
Lauren Ritchie
COMMENTARY
September 19, 2007
Horses do not respect your davenport when you let them into your living room.
You are done for if they step on your toe and decide to linger. One snap of their chompers means fewer digits for life.
So what's with Brian and Mary Ellen Sheets and Buck?
It's a love affair.
In this case, unfortunately, one of the parties has trotted on to greener pastures, so to speak.
It's Buck the Wonder Horse.
Unfortunately, the Sheetses fell for a horse that belongs to Florida's Division of Recreation and Parks. He was moved from Lake Louisa State Park to one in Kissimmee, and the couple is heartbroken.
Officials don't know how Buck came to be state property, in the same category as, say, a desk. But they know he once was at Lake Kissimmee State Park with other Cracker horses, a breed of small, sturdy equines descended from the ones Ponce de Leon brought to Florida in 1521.
He and five other Cracker horses were supposed to be actors in a living history program detailing frontier ranching. None of the others are tame, however.
Buck, too, resisted the procedure at first. He pretty much resisted anything. Except eating. So the recalcitrant hayburner was shipped to Lake Louisa four years for training.
Brian Sheets, 48, met the sassy blood bay with a black mane and tail when he was hired on at Lake Louisa three years ago. Six months later, the park service specialist started slowly taming Buck.
"I'm not a horse trainer. I treated him with kindness and patience, and we just became friends. I let him go at his own pace," Sheets said.
"I'm just happy to spend time with him."
Sheets and his wife, who works as an elephant keeper, very dearly wanted to buy their friend. Price was not an issue. They offered to replace him with another -- better trained -- horse. They told state officials: You name the deal.
On Monday, Sheets' bosses said they were trying to find a way for Buck to stay with Sheets. Florida employees ethically can't buy state property unless it's surplus, and Buck's not, they said.
"We have to make sure they don't get consideration that the general public doesn't get," said Cliff Maxwell, assistant chief in District 3, which includes both parks.
On Tuesday, however, they moved Buck to Kissimmee, where they said he'll be the "star" of the interpretive program.
Larry Fooks, chief of the district's parks, said the couple has taken good care of Buck.
"We understand Brian has an emotional attachment to the horse," Fooks said. "It's a passion."
Sheets and his wife also have sunk at least $1,000 of their own money into farrier services and grooming equipment for Buck. They fed him every day, fussed over him, brushed him and smooched him. Once in a while, Sheets was allowed to wear his uniform and ride Buck through the park. Ah, nirvana.
Mary Ellen, 44, is an official volunteer at Lake Louisa, so she also took care of Buck.
"He's the sweetest, most innocent soul," she said. Tears choked her speech when she thought of Buck leaving.
Typically, government ought to protect taxpayer property without a second thought. But this was a special case. It called for creativity.
Surely, a government with compassion could have fashioned a way for Buck to stay with his family in south Lake and still protect the interests of the taxpayers of Florida.
Here is one of the reasons why:
Article in the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper this past Sunday...
A little heart can give horse continued love
Lauren Ritchie
COMMENTARY
September 19, 2007
Horses do not respect your davenport when you let them into your living room.
You are done for if they step on your toe and decide to linger. One snap of their chompers means fewer digits for life.
So what's with Brian and Mary Ellen Sheets and Buck?
It's a love affair.
In this case, unfortunately, one of the parties has trotted on to greener pastures, so to speak.
It's Buck the Wonder Horse.
Unfortunately, the Sheetses fell for a horse that belongs to Florida's Division of Recreation and Parks. He was moved from Lake Louisa State Park to one in Kissimmee, and the couple is heartbroken.
Officials don't know how Buck came to be state property, in the same category as, say, a desk. But they know he once was at Lake Kissimmee State Park with other Cracker horses, a breed of small, sturdy equines descended from the ones Ponce de Leon brought to Florida in 1521.
He and five other Cracker horses were supposed to be actors in a living history program detailing frontier ranching. None of the others are tame, however.
Buck, too, resisted the procedure at first. He pretty much resisted anything. Except eating. So the recalcitrant hayburner was shipped to Lake Louisa four years for training.
Brian Sheets, 48, met the sassy blood bay with a black mane and tail when he was hired on at Lake Louisa three years ago. Six months later, the park service specialist started slowly taming Buck.
"I'm not a horse trainer. I treated him with kindness and patience, and we just became friends. I let him go at his own pace," Sheets said.
"I'm just happy to spend time with him."
Sheets and his wife, who works as an elephant keeper, very dearly wanted to buy their friend. Price was not an issue. They offered to replace him with another -- better trained -- horse. They told state officials: You name the deal.
On Monday, Sheets' bosses said they were trying to find a way for Buck to stay with Sheets. Florida employees ethically can't buy state property unless it's surplus, and Buck's not, they said.
"We have to make sure they don't get consideration that the general public doesn't get," said Cliff Maxwell, assistant chief in District 3, which includes both parks.
On Tuesday, however, they moved Buck to Kissimmee, where they said he'll be the "star" of the interpretive program.
Larry Fooks, chief of the district's parks, said the couple has taken good care of Buck.
"We understand Brian has an emotional attachment to the horse," Fooks said. "It's a passion."
Sheets and his wife also have sunk at least $1,000 of their own money into farrier services and grooming equipment for Buck. They fed him every day, fussed over him, brushed him and smooched him. Once in a while, Sheets was allowed to wear his uniform and ride Buck through the park. Ah, nirvana.
Mary Ellen, 44, is an official volunteer at Lake Louisa, so she also took care of Buck.
"He's the sweetest, most innocent soul," she said. Tears choked her speech when she thought of Buck leaving.
Typically, government ought to protect taxpayer property without a second thought. But this was a special case. It called for creativity.
Surely, a government with compassion could have fashioned a way for Buck to stay with his family in south Lake and still protect the interests of the taxpayers of Florida.