Market raises funds for equine-therapy program

COBDEN, Ill. -- By midafternoon Sunday, Patrik Cates hadn't seen more than a dozen prospective customers stop to look at his handmade wooden flutes, but he didn't let that interfere with his enjoyment of a pretty afternoon.

Cates was part of a handful of vendors who turned out to sell crafts and other items Sunday at Black Diamond Market, a new monthly fundraiser for equine-assisted learning and therapy programs at Black Diamond Ranch, 2715 State Route 127 North in Cobden.

"I love the program that she does down here," Cates said of ranch owner Sandy Nance. "She's helped a lot of kids down here on this ranch."

Since 1998, Sandy Nance and her husband, Cobden village superintendent Larry Nance, have offered summer camps and equine-therapy programs for children with special needs.

Camps have become shorter and less frequent in recent years as a result of state funding cuts, Sandy Nance said, but she continues to offer as many weekend camping programs as she can afford.

Sandy Nance serves a lunch as Tony Randall observes her Sunday at Black Diamond Ranch near Cobden, Ill. (Fred Lynch)

"I run the program whenever I can, even if we don't have any funding," she said.

The market, which is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the last Sunday of each month, helps cover some of the $250 cost to put on a weekend camp for five children; the Nances pick up the tab for the rest, Sandy Nance said.

Meeting other children with similar backgrounds is therapeutic for campers, who typically range in age from 7 to 18 and often have mental or behavioral issues as a result of past abuse, she said.

"They get up -- they're different than what we call 'normal.' They ride a different bus to school. ... They're in a different classroom. They're separated from their peers, and they're made to feel different," Nance said. "Here, they all have the same [problems]. This isn't mixed in with 4-H kids and church kids. This is their camp."

Nine horses -- paints, quarter horses and Appaloosas -- offer campers a friendly ear, Nance said.

The cafe in the lodge is open to patrons Sunday at Black Diamond Ranch near Cobden, Ill. (Fred Lynch)

"They listen, and they don't have an opinion. They don't speak, so they don't judge," she said.

As campers learn to communicate with the horses, they gain confidence and a sense of hope: "'If I can tell that 1,200-pound animal to do something, and it listens to me, maybe I can tell my mom something,'" Nance said.

While Sandy Nance runs the children's programs, Larry works behind the scenes, maintaining the property and helping with the on-site restaurant, which opens on market days and other special occasions to raise funds for the programs.

Sunday marked just the second day of business for Black Diamond Market.

Vendor Luco Pavone, who traveled from Rosiclare, Ill., to sell fluorspar, said that might help explain the light turnout. By 2 p.m., he had seen only three paying customers for his colorful minerals.

The cabins at Black Diamond Ranch have an Old West appearance as seen Sunday. (Fred Lynch)

"Maybe once it gets going and it gets more advertising and people start knowing, things will change," he said.

Fortunately for Pavone, vendors do not have to pay a fee to set up shop at Black Diamond. Sandy Nance said anyone who would like to sell items at the market or help with future fundraisers, including a planned Halloween event, may call 618-833-7629.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

2715 State Route 127 North, Cobden, Ill.