Old Friends — Attraction in Bluegrass Region

I really don’t know what to say about this place. We had been on two other horse farm tours earlier in the week and were warmly welcomed. Here, not so much. It was just beginning to storm when we arrived and was already thundering and lightning when the tour guide told us we were going on the tour anyway. I told her the area was under a severe thunderstorm warning and tried to show her on my phone’s weather radar, but she just ignored me. Finally lightning struck very close to where we were standing outside and at that point, they canceled the tour. They then tried to persuade us to reschedule later in the day. It all came across as they were so desperate for the $, they didn’t care about anyone’s safety. But to make matters worse, when my husband pulled around their narrow driveway in our dually truck which we use to pull our RV, one of his back tires went over onto their grass. The tour guide was looking directly at him and exclaimed, “Oh my God.” I was standing there within 5 ft of her waiting to get in the truck since it was raining so hard. I couldn’t believe she said that about a customer in front of other customers. I told my husband about it and he said we would...

Haven't been their yet cause I just saw it on tv yesterday.Its hard for me too to think about the owners and trainers who race then till they can't win anymore and then collect stud fees for awhiletill there done collecting money off of them for that, and when their done wi t h making them money they won't keep them and feed them cause cause now they want nothing to do with them because now they are a liability for them.Thank God for these people who started this place up and are taking care of them. I think the owner, trainers and maybe even the jockeys should have to put a small% of the prise money to places like this to support the horse when it retires.sort of like a retirement plan like they have and make a retirement plan for the horses.I know with all the racing we have in all the state's we need a lot more farms like this to make every horseshoe an afterlife. And even go beyond that to harness racing and greyhound racing.I have the property to do it but not the means to take care of them daily or the know how to get started.If I had a small %% coming in for each horse however just to feed them I would start a place like olds...

I am a life-long racing fan and Old Friends is the promised land. A place I happily drive a few hours to spend time with the heroes of my youth and not-so-distant past. Derby winners Silver Charm, I'll Have Another and Big Brown top the roster as famous retirees, but the real gems can be found on a private tour with the founder of the farm, Michael Blowen. On our most recent visit, we visited with Green Mask, Awesome Gem, Bold and Bossy (a truly amazing horse), and the last horse bred by Secretariat's owner, Penny Chenery - Groundshaker. A recent addition to the farm is a continuous loop video of Old Friends residents running their races - home stretch after home stretch - showing the athleticism and heart of these magnificent creatures. I love getting to feed carrots to the likes of Lava Man, Game On Dude, Little Mike, Alpha, and all the others as a way of saying "thank you". Visit this farm and support the work Old Friends is doing by ensuring a safe and happy retirement to these...