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For the Love of Clydesdales
Raising these horses started as a hobby and then became a
passion for Delaware horseman Ed Banning.
By Donna Florio,
Southern Living Magazine, December 2002.
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Ed Banning went from working with trucks to working with horses when he bought his first Clydesdale 12 years ago.
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On weekends, Ed hitches his titanic teams to wagons for
hayrides at the farm.
When Ed Banning purchased his first Clydesdales 12 years ago,
he thought they'd be a new hobby. "We bought two for ourselves
and an additional two thinking there's always a person who
wants working horses," he explains. "But it's an addictive
hobby. We started by buying four with the excuse that we'd
resell two of them; now we have eight."
Ed and his wife, Deana, became intrigued with the breed during
a business dinner with a colleague who talked about a man
selling Clydesdales at a farm nearby. "The conversation roped
us in," Ed says. The next year, the couple moved to Bridgeville,
Delaware, bought four horses, and started Carriage Place Farm.
A Whole Lot of Horse
Now Ed's hobby has become a full-time business. At any given
time, he owns up to 14 horses, as well as 2 miniature donkeys
and a couple of swans. Draft horses bred to handle heavy loads,
Clydesdales can pull three to four times their weight of 1,700
to 2,200 pounds. They are impressively tall, standing 16 to 19
hands high (64 to 76 inches at the shoulder), and their
strength, gentleness, and energy make them perfect for pulling
wagons and carriages.
Teams of two or more are even more efficient than individual
horses at pulling large loads, Ed explains. "When you put a
horse with another horse, it creates a synergism. Instead of
the 6,000 pounds that they might pull individually, together
they likely could pull 18,000 pounds."
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On weekends, Ed hitches his titanic teams to wagons for hayrides at the farm.
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Earlier this year, Ed retired from the truck brokerage firm
he started in 1979, giving him more time to care for the
Clydesdales. He starts the hour-long feeding process at 5:30
a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. The horses receive grain all year
and hay in the winter. He feeds them in the pasture, explaining
that the more the animals stay out of the barn, the healthier
they are. In between the morning and evening feedings and
sometimes daily barn cleanings, he takes care of miscellaneous
jobs such as mending fences, checking the condition of a
pregnant mare, supervising breeding, and bringing in the vet
for vaccinations.
The horses have given Ed another new passion - collecting
antique and reproduction wagons and carriages for use in
weekend hayrides, wedding parties, and parades. Guests are
especially intrigued by his big red 3,500-pound hitch wagon,
which Ed describes as "heavy as you'll find." He grouses about
an improbably colored periwinkle blue hearse that he plans to
lease to funeral homes. "I've got to send that back to be
painted," he says. "It needs to be black."
Horses With Heart
Ed's Clydesdales found a new calling five years ago when he
acquired a wheelchair-accessible, 20-seat trolley. He took
the trolley and a team to the Caroline Nursing Home and
Rehabilitation Center in Denton, Maryland. There, patients
who used walkers and canes or were in wheelchairs and rolling
beds waited on the front lawn to visit with Woody, April, and
Princess.
They petted and talked to Woody, a people-loving Grand Champion
gelding. The home's activities director, Mary Lou Schoonover,
surprised Ed by asking if he could take Woody into the lobby so
the other residents could see him.
When the huge horse entered the nursing home, enthusiastic
residents surrounded him. He smelled and nuzzled them, appearing
to enjoy the interaction as much as the people did. "We saw
more smiles and more glowing," Mary Lou says.
Then the activities director took things a step further, asking
if Ed could walk Woody down the hall. Though Woody's ears
nearly touched the ceiling, he nonchalantly strolled down the
passage, accepting affectionate strokes and compliments along
the way. Ed then led him into some of the rooms, where Woody,
who was too large to turn around, had to back out after visiting
the bedridden patients.
"I think there were tears in every person's eyes," Ed remembers,
"including mine."
Thrilled by the response, Ed has continued taking the Clydesdales
to nursing homes throughout Delaware and Maryland. "It's such
a blessing to see these people's faces light up," he says.
Ed especially remembers one patient, a farmer who'd once owned
racehorses. Two weeks after his stroke, he had still not
responded to any stimulation. "When the horse put his head in
the door, the man raised up a little and reached out his hand,"
Ed says. "We brought the horse closer so he could touch him,
and he said, 'This is worth it all.'"
Riding With Mr. Ed
The Carriage Place is located at 21700 Eskridge Road, about 2
miles south of Bridgeville, Delaware. For more information call
(302) 628-0100, or visit
www.carriageplace.net.
A Family Thanks CNH
As published in the Times-Record newspaper, November
16, 1994.
We in Caroline County are privileged to have within our
county one of the finest nursing homes to be found anywhere.
The administration and staff of Caroline Nursing Home are
people of true compassion who go above and beyond what the
normal standard of care would seem to be into the realm of
excellence.
On Oct. 20 Mr Clarence Melvin, a three-year resident of
Caroline Nursing Home, suffered a massive stroke that resulted
in his death two and one-half days later, on Oct. 22. During
his final hours, Mr Melvin and all his family members that
were there with him were recipients of countless acts of
kindness, sensitivity, and genuine caring by those at the
nursing home.
From the beginning, Mr Melvin was treated by all with the
tenderness one would show to their own loved one. Unable
to move his right side, speak, or in any way communicate,
Mr Melvin was gently bathed, turned, dressed touched and
talked to by various aides, nurses, and administrators,
who expressed their desire to keep him as comfortable and
at peace as possible. Each person who entered his room
seemed to really care about him as a person.
Many of the family gathered at his bedside during the
hours he lay dying. Numerous times nursing home staff stopped
in to offer any assistance we might need during those hours.
Coffee and tea were brought in for the adults and animal
cookies were provided for the small children who were there.
Shortly after the stroke, Mr Melvin's kind and accommodating
roommate cooperated with the nursing home's staff decision to
move him to another location so the family might have
privacy during this time. Whenever family members were there
during meal time, several persons, from administration on
down, offered to see that those present had food to eat.
When Mr Melvin's condition worsened due to pneumonia in the
very early hours of the morning on Oct. 22, a nurse called
the family. As the morning worse on, Mr Melvin continued to
fight for each breath. The nurses offered words of advice
to family members to help provide Mr Melvin with the peace
he seemed to be seeking. One nurse suggested that we bring
his wife of 65 years, also a resident of the nursing home, to
be with him. She felt that even though he could not
communicate he was probably still somewhat aware of what
was going on around him and would be comforted by his
wife's presence. We decided that even though Mrs Melvin
would probably not recognize her husband, she could join us
in singing to him some of the hundreds of hymns she had
learned as a child and has remembered in their entirety,
even while she has forgotten so many other things. We
agreed to have her brought down. What followed was such a
display of compassion that words will not do it justice.
Mrs Melvin was wheeled in her bed to Mr Melvin's room.
Staff moved furniture in the room to accommodate her bed.
Her bed was placed right next to her, their heads just a few
inches apart. Without one word being spoken, one staffer
lowered the rail on his bed at exactly the same moment as
another staffer lowered the rail on her bed. For the first
time in many years, Mr and Mrs Melvin lay next to one another.
Quietly the staffers filed out, softly telling us to let them
know if we needed anything just before shutting the door
behind them. We began to sing old hymns to Mr Melvin, the
voice of his wife clearly singing close to his ear. As we
sang his breathing became quieter and slower, until finally,
after something approaching an hour had passed, Mr Melvin
stopped breathing at all. None of us present could imagine
a more peaceful passing than the one we witnessed that day.
Even after death, the Caroline Nursing Home staff took great
care to see that Mr Melvin was once again washed and dressed
in clean clothing. The actions of those at Caroline Nursing
Home made a difficult time easier to undergo, and provided
Mr Melvin the opportunity to die with dignity, as peacefully
and comfortably as possible. We, Mr Melvin's family, are
and will remain truly grateful to all those people at
Caroline Nursing Home who cared for Mr Melvin during the
last three years and who showed such concern and acted
with such kindness during his final hours. We cannot imagine
anyone anywhere doing anything more then what was done.
Nursing Home Residents Show Patriotic Spirit
As published in the Star Democrat newspaper, April 25, 2003.
North Caroline High School Band of Blue members lead the
patriotic parade of Caroline Nursing Home residents to the
sunroom where they signed scrolls going to our U.S. troops
overseas on Thursday, April 24.
Participants in the parade included, from left: Dr. Gerald
Thompson, band instructor; Kelly Baetin, Nick Sapovitz, Amber
Porter, Kyleen Ashe, Alicia Barr, Ashely Weer, Jen Barr, and
Amanda Zorak. Residents showed their patriotism by wearing red,
white and blue.
Larry Bowe, dietary manager at the nursing home also displayed
his spirit dressing up as Uncle Sam. He can be seen back to
camera at left. H. George Jackson, Jr. of American Corner will
have his scrolls available for signing at the Star Democrat
booth at the Chesapeake Classic Car Show at the Elks Lodge on
Sunday, April 27th, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lodge is located on
Dutchmans Lane, Easton. Jackson will also have the scrolls
at the Denton Vol. Fire Co.'s Car & Truck Show Saturday,
May 3rd at the HAPS building (across from Firehouse) in Denton,
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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