Disabled riders learn Sugar Babe is so sweet







	

      Disabled riders learn Sugar Babe is so sweet 

      Monday, December 4, 2000

      By Kathleen Longcore 

      The Grand Rapids Press 

      ALTO -- Sugar Babe is a sway-backed pinto that is missing some teeth and 

      carries only small children. But no one's putting the 40ish pony out to 

      pasture yet.

      The sweet-tempered animal -- over the hill in horse years -- was recently 

      named National Therapy Horse of the Year by the North American Riding for 

      the Handicapped Association (NARHA).

      "It's a wonderful honor, considering she's just a little backyard pony," 

      said Bill Schumacher, 62, whose family owns Sugar Babe.

           The therapy horse association promotes horseback riding for the disabled 

      because it makes people feel good, said Roxanne Ayala, a spokeswoman for 

      NARHA in Denver. "When they're on a horse, their disability is not 

      apparent."

      Sugar Babe is part of that mission in the Kent Special Riding Program, a 

      4-H program hosted by Bill and Lynn Schumacher at their Morse Lake Road 

      farm for 24 years.

      They have 14 gentle horses and several wheelchair ramps built so the 

      disabled can get in the saddle. From April to October, volunteers help 

      riders as young as 3 and as old as 83.

      Sugar Babe beat out 10 regional winners in North America. The rust-colored 

      pony has been immortalized in watercolor and also won a snazzy blanket and 

      a ton of feed from Purina Mills.

      She was nominated by the Kent riding program's instructors, who say 

      hundreds of youngsters fell in love with horses because of Sugar Babe.

      "In the horse business, she's what's known as 'a baby sitter.' That's a 

      horse that's good with kids," said Bill Schumacher, a retired anatomy 

      professor from Grand Rapids Community College. "She's so steady, and 

      she'll go anywhere. I'm convinced if we took her to the Grand Hotel, she'd 

      walk in and get right on the elevator with us."

      Only one in 10 horses is calm enough to carry handicapped riders, said 

      Gail Broderick, a board member for the Kent program.

      "They've got to be extremely quiet, steady on the job, no matter what," 

      Broderick said.

      Sugar Babe seems to sense her riders' vulnerability. She stops if they 

      start sliding off. She once carried a boy who rode laid out on his 

      stomach, his head on the pony's rump and his feet on either side of her 

      neck.

      Nothing ruffles her, said instructor Sherri Faler, 45. "She's a character, 

      and she's got her quirks. But I've known Sugar Babe for about 22 years, 

      and I've never seen her spook at anything."

      Marjorie Palczewski could be president of a Sugar Babe fan club.

      The 41-year-old Grand Rapids woman has been in the Kent program for Sugar 

      Babe's entire career. Born with Down syndrome, Palczewski needed 

      recreation and a confidence booster, and riding gave her both, said her 

      mother, Louise Palczewski.

      Now, even though Marjorie rides bigger horses, she still carries a picture 

      of Sugar Babe in her purse. "She's my favorite," she said, pulling out the 

      snapshot.

      The Schumachers bought Sugar Babe from a neighbor when their 5-year-old 

      son, Jeff, was recovering from a traumatic brain injury. The pony lived 

      about a mile away, but she kept showing up at the Schumachers' farm.

      "I don't know how she did it, because we all have fences. But she kept 

      coming over to be near our horses. So we bought her for $100. It was the 

      best $100 we ever spent," Lynn Schumacher said.

      Bill Schumacher headed 4-H horse programs, until his son, Bill, and 

      daughters, Sue and Deb, graduated from high school. During that time Sugar 

      Babe carried countless riders to blue ribbons in the Kent County Youth 

      Fair, the Michigan 4-H Fair and the Special Olympics in Mount Pleasant. 

      She even appeared once in a costume event in a pink tutu.

      At the same time, she was helping Jeff Schumacher recover from partial 

      paralysis.

      The couple was so sold on therapeutic riding they offered the use of their 

      farm to the Kent Special Riding Program, one of more than 650 affiliates 

      of the North American organization.

      Nobody even wants to think about life without Sugar Babe. Thirty is old 

      for horses and 40 is old for ponies. So Sugar Babe is a very old lady.

      But she won't be retired just yet. As long as she's willing and able, 

      riding instructors say she's just the right horse for a small child.

      "She's a cutie pie who's apparently touched everyone's heart," Ayala 

            said.

      



          

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