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Lipizzan Ranch In Danger Of Foreclosure

Sarasota Herald-Tribune file photo

Carmen Herrmann Stiles leads a Lipizzan Stallion into the air during a public show and practice at The Original Herrmann's Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Austria in Myakka City.

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By PATRINA A. BOSTIC

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: August 28, 2008

MYAKKA CITY - A Southwest Florida landmark, the ranch where a group of the world-famous Lipizzan stallions are trained, could be in jeopardy as a bank moves to foreclose on part of the property.

Whitney National Bank filed a foreclosure suit Friday against the Herrmann family, operators of The Original Herrmanns' Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Austria ranch. The bank says in court documents that the family has failed to make payments on more than $1 million in loans.

The foreclosure has been filed on two pieces of land: a 131-acre swath and a 40-acre parcel at the ranch in Myakka City. The family offered the parcels as collateral on a $1 million loan in 2005 from 1st National Bank & Trust.

The loan was passed to Whitney after it took over 1st National Bank & Trust, court records indicate.

Even before the foreclosure, the stallion training operation on Singletary Road has been struggling due to rising prices for fuel, grain and sawdust used in stalls.

The burden has led the Herrmann family to question whether they can keep running the ranch passed down from family patriarch Col. Ottomar Herrmann Jr., who died in 2004.

The colonel left his estate to daughter Gabriella "Gabby" Herrmann and other family members.

Gabby Herrmann is performing in Michigan with the stallions and could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit names Herrmann, her daughter, Rebecca McCullough, and the Ottomar Herrmann estate as defendants.

"I'm still kinda in shock with everything because I'm not sure what's going on," said Carmen Herrmann Stiles, a cousin of Gabby Herrmann. Stiles is a Lipizzan trainer and performer.

The white stallions, which are kept on a 20-acre farm, are trained to perform to music and tour the country annually, participating in shows.

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