Dear Dominique Smiles, Thank you so much for the wonderful experience with Dominique. My daughter has never seen a horse but absolutely loved brushing and petting him. The interaction seemed to relax her. Dominique is so gentle that she had no fear of riding him. It was truly a way for her to escape all the fear and pain of her cancer for a few hours. After meeting Dominique, she is now asking for riding lessons! Thank you again, Vivian’s Mommy
Note From Sandy: It is rare I give a child a ride on Dominique. He cannot carry much weight. Vivian is 3 1/2 years old and cancer has been a part of her little life for most of those years. Of course her big sister also received a plush Dominique!
Ronald McDonald House programs, located near top children’s hospitals, allow parents who are far from home to stay close to their hospitalized child and benefit from the comforts of home without incurring hotel and food costs.
Dominique was invited to visit the children and their families staying at the Baltimore, MD Ronald McDonald House on July 26.
Judging by the smiles on the faces of the children in these photos, Dominique did his job well! For the children, it was a welcome break from the daily regime of pain and cancer treatments. For the parents and siblings, it was an opportunity to see the pure joy on their child’s faces as they interacted with Dominique. It was the first time many of them had ever seen a live horse up close.
Each child was given a plush Dominique to keep thanks to the caring people who make donations to Dominique’s Smiles.
You never know what or who you will see and meet if you really look around you! Simple tasks like trimming bushes with Daryle and Barney led to meeting Marvin! We met this summer, and over the months when I least expect to see him, he shows up! See if you can find him in the pictures. He changes colors from looking like a blade of grass to a brown twig. Marvin is a great help eating the bad insects like stink bugs around the farm!
Daryle, Barney and I were trimming weeds when we met a praying mantis named Marvin! He is in every picture. Can you find him? He changes color to either look like a twig or a blade of grass for protection – like when he saw Barney!
One evening there was Marvin on the window sill and later that night on the screen door. Always take time to notice the small things!
Can you find Marvin? He is under the chair! Dominique was excited. In the end, he went into the house to see Marvin on the screen!
As I was cleaning Dominique’s stall one morning, I was not alone. Marvin was there! Dominique was eating grass while Daryle was watching and waiting to help me stack wood. By the time Dominique returned to his stall, Marvin was gone!
Can you find the video where he washed his face? The last video is when he stopped by to say that he would be moving on. I hope you enjoyed Marvin’s adventures. Keep looking because you never know what you will see!
Horses get baby teeth just like us, lose them, and then grow their adult teeth. The only difference is that adult horse teeth keep on growing! Oral care is very important to keep them healthy. These adult teeth need to be floated (filed down) and checked once a year to keep the angle good for eating. Also, bad teeth are pulled if necessary. Dominique recently had his first visit from Lars Curley, our horse dentist! He is the best dentist and all of our horses like him because he is kind and understands them, especially if they are scared.
Lars shows Dominique the tool he will use for his teeth.
Dominique is very interested as he watches Lars float Rue Martel’s teeth
Dominique attended Susan Smith Rodiguez’s 101st Birthday Party in Maryland on June 2, 2021! He was a perfect gentleman in her home and brought many smiles to all and much delight to Susan.
Dominique visited a total of 20 excited students in three classrooms at Spring Forge Intermediate School in Manchester, PA on May 25th! Each class visited Dominique’s website the day before his appearance to learn all about Dominique. The students wrote good questions to ask us when we arrived the next day. After questions were answered, Sandy told a story about how bullying hurts and that it is good to be different using Dominique as an example. Each student received a plush Dominique to remember their visit.
Mrs. Thompson’s Class: Alex Aponte, Star Malave, Ben Alessi, Ava Eisenhour and Alexander Schaeffer
Miss Laird’s Class: Jacob Haapala, (Miss Kayla), Natasha Boltersdorf, (Mrs. Shank), Yandiel Martinez, David Maldonado-Padon, (Miss Laird) and Matao Roldes
Mrs. Stephens’ Class: Tabitha Gominger, Mason Diffenderfer, AJ Schlasta and Devon Wise
Even though Dominique has been unable to visit children in hospitals due to COVID-19, nothing stops us from making people smile! On a recent visit to Park City Center in Lancaster, where we brought lots of excitement, we were joined by Abby Romberger, Pennsylvania Teen Miss United States Agriculture. Dominique brought smiles to people of all ages.
Sandy and Abby
Our trips to Park City Center help keep Dominique tuned up for when he can finally visit children in hospitals. Abby shows off the 8″ plush horse every child receives during our visit.
The following story is what Dominique’s Smiles is all about for children, adults, and families in many timeless ways – replacing the hurt and pain with good memories.
Dominique visited Karen Blevins a few days before Christmas in 2020 and brought her a plush mini-horse. To see her joy and the smile on her face was very humbling. Karen passed on in May.
Christmas is too often associated with giving gifts. We tend to think we must spend hundreds of dollars to find the perfect gift for our loved ones. Sometimes the gift of a smile is the greatest gift we can give to those we love as well as folks we’ve just met. True to his mission, Dominique provided Christmas smiles this week to Karen Blevins who is house bound with multiple health problems. As you can see, Karen’s husband Donald could not help but smile as well. Thank you Dominique and Sandy for making Karen’s day! ~ Beth Innerst.
