SCOTTSDALE, AZ — The 70th annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show kicks off next week, but aside from the milestone year, the event will have a focus on helping their own.
Several members of the Arabian Horse Association lost almost everything in the Los Angeles area wildfires last month.
Arabian Horse Association of Arizona (AHAA) Executive Director Melissa Challes said they'll be raising money for those victims through the Arabian Horseman's Distress Fund, auctioning off items from the Rose Bowl Parade, such as flowers, the Tournament of Roses blanket, memorabilia, and more.
"When you donate through our charity or our auction, what it'll do is go directly through the Arabian Horseman's Distress Fund, which will go directly to the fire victims of southern California," Challes said.
One of those members is Dr. Margo Minissian, who's been riding Arabian horses since she was a little girl and has been part of the AHA for over 30 years.
"Horses are my therapy," Minissian said. "I never in my wildest dreams thought that it would, it would come and kind of served me back the way that it did."
She's competed in the Scottsdale show since she was 21 years old.
Last month, Minissian was at work at Cedars-Sinai Hospital when she got the call that her husband, children, and pets were evacuating their home as the Eaton Fire was imminently upon their neighborhood.
When they all regrouped at a cousin's house nearby, they saw their worst fear play out on live television news.
"There was our house with just the wind blowing sideways. It was all engulfed in flames. Our Christmas tree was hanging out of, you know, the front window, and my 17-year-old daughter, when she realized it was our house was just, you know - you could just only imagine," she said. "I was so overcome because, like, less than a week ago, I was riding my horse, Maverick, in the Rose Parade and we were riding down the street."
Immediately, her Arabian horse community took action to help and connected her family with resources and a hotel near the hospital she works at. Now, they're looking to do even more through the money raised at the auction as her family and several others begin the long, tough, and expensive process of trying to rebuild their homes.
This year, Minissian said she won't be competing with Maverick at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. He got hurt during the wildfires when the strong winds spooked him and has been recovering since.
She told ABC15, though, she'll be there, just like this community has been for her.
"I'm going to be cheering all my friends on, and, you know, just getting a chance to say thank you," she said. "Space-wise, we may be far away from each other, but I can't believe how tight and small the community feels."
To donate to the Arabian horse community families impacted by the southern California wildfires, you can do so online or at the event's auction.
If you'd like to directly help the Minissian family, they do have a GoFundMe page.
The Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show kicks off at WestWorld February 13-23.
