DRY RIDGE, Ky. — The Lovesome Stables in Grant County suffered heavy damage in the storms that blew threw through the area last Wednesday. The stables help thousands of people with disabilities across the Tri-State. Now, they’re hoping for a bit of help themselves.
“We knew there were big storms coming,” executive director Jody Keeley said. “I looked out the front door and said, ‘It sounds like a freight train.”’
Keeley said everything changed in a flash that night.
“There were pieces of the roof hanging on the electric wires," Keeley said. “That pole was down. We lost four trees in the front.”
The day revealed a sight she said she didn’t want to see. The largest structure on the property – the arena where so many people were helped – was heavily damaged.
“We ran out to try to find the horses, make sure that all the horses were OK,” Keeley said. “And they were, thank goodness.”
The stable’s 14 horses are important for so many. They offer opportunities for folks with disabilities between the ages of 4 and 65 to come to Lovesome Stables to ride and brush the horses.
“Horses can make a connection with someone with autism, where other people can’t,” Keeley said.
The stables also help veterans from Joseph’s House in Cincinnati and a women’s group with the Brighton Center.
“We haven’t had anyone here at the farm for month,” Keeley said. “It was nice to see people coming again and helping out. We have a lot to do.”
Eads Fence Company is fencing the stables free of charge – now the focus is tearing down what’s left of the arena and rebuilding.
“We talked about different options we could do,” Keeley said. “Switching this, or that.”
The reconstruction isn’t scheduled to be finished until late July. Some of the stables’ programs will be canceled.
“We try to connect with the community however we can,” Keeley said.
Now, the Lovesome Stables are the ones in need of help.
People interested in helping can donate on the stable’s website.
