2013 Arabian Celebration Show
During the 2013 Arabian Celebration Show, Kimberly Marie Jarvis, the Arabian Celebration Show Committee and Pat and Mary Trowbridge arranged a visit to the Home of the Innocents in Louisville, Ky with a mare competing at the show, Miz Vogue VA, owned by Hennessey Arabians. When the organizers of the Home of the Innocents shared that some of the children would not be able to come to the show, the ACS took the show to them. It was an opportunity for these fantastic children to meet, touch and connect with an Arabian Horse!
The excitement in these childrens' eyes when Miz Vogue dropped her head in their arms was astonishing. We were all moved to emotion beyond explanation as she made her way around the circle of children, one by one allowing each of them to touch and kiss her. The expression in her eye was soft and kind as if she had a complete understanding for the hardships these children have faced and what it meant to them to be in her presence.
The ACS show raised $10,000 through a charity auction at the Starting Gate Party on Thursday night. The charity was chosen by Kimberly Marie Jarvis. Home of the Innocents has been the region's open arms to kids in crisis since 1880. In its early years, the Home was known as a place that received young children and infants when their families were unable to care for them due to poverty, illness or other overwhelming circumstances. Over the years, these services transitioned to primarily serving children who had experienced abuse, neglect or abandonment. In 1975, Home of the Innocents assumed the responsibility of caring for another vulnerable population, the medically fragile children housed at the Jewish Home for Convalescent Children, which operated from 1908-1975. Today, the Home continues to provide services to medically fragile children, as well as abandoned, abused, neglected and homeless children; children with autism; and their families at its children's village in Louisville, Kentucky.
Hennessey Arabians will be eternally grateful for the opportunity to share Miz Vogue with these children. Thank you Mary Trowbridge, Kimberly Marie Jarvis and Arabian Celebration for facilitating this beautiful day!