(K-LOVE Closer Look) – Why have hundreds of lush green acres to give racehorses a cushy retirement? “We owe it to them,” says Michael Blowen. He fell in love with horses a few years ago and decided to spend his retirement with them by founding Old Friends Farm. “They’re great athletes” with no 401k or Social Security for hay after earning millions of tourist dollars for the state.
“The Commonwealth of Kentucky doesn’t look anything like the national park that it is here if you don’t have these horses – these horses are to Kentucky what the automobile is to Detroit.”
Nearly 200 horses get free hay and healthcare at Old Friends Farm in Georgetown. “We go through 350 lbs. of carrots a week,’ Blowen laughs. Current residents include famous thoroughbreds Silver Charm and Touch Gold, but also others not-famous but whose owners could no longer care for them. A dozen more Old Friends horses live nearby at a care home for elderly humans to provide the unique comfort of equine companionship. The Farm has even inspired a copycat version in Japan.
Horses can live 25-30 years so after they are no longer bred or raced they still have many years of life ahead. Blowen prides himself on giving these hardworking animals rest from labor and the freedom to express their unique personalities. “They’re smart and they’re different…and they literally tell us what they want and when they want it,” like Silver Charm, he says, who does not like to be petted – but enjoys posing for selfies with visitors. “We had one woman with Asperger's who said Silver Charm gave her a kiss and she decided life was worth living again,” Blowen recalls. “We have all kinds of stories like that of what these horses have done for people.”
Even after hanging up their bits and blinders the horses on Old Friends Farm continue to give back to the people of Kentucky as ambassadors of their species. “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface on what these they can do in retirement for people because nobody’s ever kept horses this long – now that we’re keeping them longer, we’re understanding what kind of diseases they get -- and geriatric equine care is becoming a great major at a lot of these veterinary schools.”
Old Friends Farm runs tours which bring additional tourist revenue to the state of Kentucky.
