REMEMBER THIS STORY? (A RECAP)

Photo: Michael E. Keating

Cincinnati Enquirer

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Last night, I started looking back through my BLOGS and this one was my favorite. It dates back to 2005. This story grabbed me in such a way when I first read it, that it stayed with me for days after. Blog Bud Denny Shane contacted me after I first posted this and he encouraged me to try and meet the young woman and her parents in this story. Denny has found in his own experience that meeting such people who are chronicled in the media is at once fascinating and positive. They have the effect of bringing HOPE to each of us. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the McVey family. Maybe I'll give it another chance. I've updated this story a bit, knowing that many of you are reading it for the first time. Either way, I hope that you enjoy it.

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Jenna McVey was a 16-year old high school junior when I first Blogged about her story from a September 25, 2005 newspaper article and image (captured above) in The Cincinnati Enquirer. It was a front-page story about how Jenna met "Nelly"---a Belgium draft horse that was used for breeding. As the story goes, Nelly's beautiful blue eyes gradually turned white from an infection that stole her sight four years ago. With one-year of riding lessons under her belt at the time, Jenna came across the blind horse standing alone in a stall and noticed that no one ever paid attention to her. "She never got out, so I felt sorry for her", said Jenna. Instinctively, the horse pushed its nose against the fence where Jenna stood. "I just saw her and fell in love with her", she said. "I would go out to her stall and talk to her". The horse was mercilessly earmarked for auctioning to a rendering plant. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle!

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On September 18th of that year Jenna guided "Beauty" (her nickname shortened from "Blind Beauty" that "Nelly" responds to) during a dressage event--which translated from French means "training". It's actually a showcase of the horses training in an arena. Imagine this girl guiding a sightless "Beauty" over and around a course of bales of hay and even across a small bridge! Mary Dorin, a judge at the dressage event that day was stunned. "We didn't know it was a blind horse until it was already on the course. This horse did everything this little girl wanted", she said. "I stood there with the three volunteers and we cried".

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Beauty has a strawberry coat and blonde locks. Jenna guides the horse by using pressure with her legs. Judge Mary Dorin said, "This horse knows, I've got her on my back; I've got to take care of her". Jenna had plans to attend an Equine college and later teach riding lessons when I first posted this story. She rides "Beauty" five days a week for an hour or two. "Nelly is my favorite thing", she said. "I'd rather come out here and sit with her in a stall than have a million dollars". Remarkably enough, Jenna and her beautiful horse won the dressage event! Each rider donated $10 (US) or more to help horses recovered from Hurricane Katrina to participate in the event.

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Well, as friendships---and even love develops over time, Jenna started visiting the lonely horse more often. After school, she brought her school books and read her assignments or her favorite childhood tales aloud to "Beauty" in her stall. Blind for 2 years at the time of my original Blog, the horse was spared from a trip to a "processing plant" (to be killed). Today, thanks to Jenna's parents who purchased the beautiful horse, they gave both their daughter and "Beauty" a priceless gift of life! Today, Jenna and "Beauty" are inseparable. They protect one another. This was my favorite BLOG and I felt it was a fine way to positively move forward into a new week.

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Cheers!