The Oldest Living Kentucky Derby-Winning Horse Thrives In Retirement | Spectrum News

The oldest living Kentucky Derby winner is thriving in Georgetown. The horse, Silver Charm, celebrated his 30th birthday in February and is living out his retirement in the Commonwealth.
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[@leert2698]

I’m so glad that the retired horses are given a great place to live out their years. They served their owners for years and it is great that someone takes them in and loves them.

[@lillyess385]

Only those who win high stakes races. Those who burnout or get injured on track do not.

[@leert2698]

@@lillyess385 that is the case for many but I do see videos of others that are taken in and given good homes. It’s sad for those that don’t but I’m happy for the ones that do.

[@jaynfontain6635]

you are dreaming, he is a lucky fluke, most end up in a feed lot

[@hitago4551]

@@leert2698 ye around 10% of all race horses....great!

[@LauraJdogmom]

@@lillyess385 Actually, Old Friends' retirees are mostly geldings, plus a few mares. The famous horses like Silver Charm and Lava Man subsidize the ones that no one has ever heard of.

[@lynfawcett221]

I have a Standard bred mare that is 34 and an Arab gelding that is 29. After all they gave me and my daughter, they deserve to be cared for in their twilight years. ❤❤❤ No huge winnings from them, but lots and lits of happy memories.

[@kathleenredick275]

I have an Arabian that is 26, and my dog is 13. Right now, the 3 of us are all about the same age. 😂

[@patpeifer7871]

Wishing all of you the best!!

[@FrankH-d6x]

I wish they all got a happy place to live out their lives like Silver Charm. Too many ship to a horrible fate. My two tell me what they want and their sole occupation now is pasture maintenance.

[@NoThankUBeQuiet]

The derby winners do. Promise you that

[@FrankH-d6x]

@@NoThankUBeQuiet Not always, you might want to learn about 1986 derby winner, Ferdinand. And how many non winners are also shipped to slaughter? Like I said, I wish they ALL had a peaceful place like this to retire.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

@@FrankH-d6x The owners of Ferdinand are sociopaths.

[@Cwgrlup]

@@FrankH-d6xnot all race winners are treated well after racing. And yes, people need to wake up about the neglect and slaughter pipeline many of these lovely horses go to at retirement.

[@tessdurberville711]

​@@FrankH-d6x Silver Charm and Alysheba were returned to their owners when their stud careers were over. If Ferdinand's and Exceller's owners had signed the same agreement, they would have been returned as well.

[@tamaragorman7421]

Perfect pairing... Gary Stevens and Silver Charm! Major Kudos to Michael Blowen and Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement! We need more philanthropists like Mr. Blowen and Mr. Nicholson.

[@karenburkhart3717]

❤❤❤❤

[@littlesister7021]

I'm so happy that Old Friends Farm saved Silver Charm from being destroyed. He now gets to live a peaceful and happy life. He certainly deserves that. He has great company of other race horses that are not wanted anymore or are retired from racing and from breeding. Thanks to everyone at Old Friends Farm for taking great care of Silver Charm and all the other horses. They are all Champions.

[@tessdurberville711]

The return agreement that his owners signed with the overseas stud is what saved him. Old Friends agreed to board him because they needed a figurehead. Both benefitted from the arrangement.

[@melhawk6284]

Still a GORGEOUS old fella. Glad he is getting the spoiling he deserves.

[@bluemoonsy]

Silver Charm is such a gentleman. There are not enough words to praise the wonderful work being done at Old Friends Farm. Bless them all.

[@santiagovazquez8135]

Good to see ol' Silver Charm.

[@Margey-jc2fc]

I loved watching Silver Charm race but now it’s his time and he Deserves it!

[@charlotterockel-kennedy8913]

That makes my two 28 year old horses 91 in human years 😮 all horses deserve a good, happy and healthy life with good vet care in their old age ❤

[@rozee2133]

Mine is 30. I hope he doesn’t outlive me. Hes never been sick a day in his life

[@ariannashook9334]

@@rozee2133 we have a 17 year old and a 28 year old to! I've known the old one since he was 4 and I was 6! I almost can't remember life without him! he's such a sweet good old boy, still active and mischievous, but always knows when to behave, I owe him a lot!

[@CheshirePhrog]

I got to pet him when we visited and took a tour. He was very sweet (this was a few years ago)

[@downundercolour]

BEAUTIFUL 🥰🥰kudos to his owners. Love them dearly as they can go so suddenly he's a beautiful boy in really good condition for his age. My old Aussie mare lived till she was nearly 29 years she passed a few weeks before her birthday. She was born in the Pilbara Desert of Western Australia lived in 4 states here in America and crossed the rainbow bridge at our vet in Blair Nebraska and we brought her to our home in Council Bluffs Iowa to be laid to rest on our property with us my adventurous loved little Brumby. RIP MUMMA we miss you terribly 😇🥰

[@lynngarza3489]

This is fantastic, if only all could enjoy this life .

[@suzystone244]

Silver Charm is amazingly fit and healthy. ❤

[@christinematton4125]

I've been there and it's beautiful. I will be visiting again soon.

[@josephbarrett9563]

It's a great life when you win the Derby. Never forgotten.

[@Keeper0fmyHEART]

Unless your Ferdinand, he ended up on a Japenesse dinner plate by 5 or 6 if I remember right.

[@rwmccollum]

@@Keeper0fmyHEARTI always remember Ferdinand for people who think most race horses end up like Silver Charm.

[@NoName-yl4od]

I love Silver Charm!! ❤ I have been to Old Friends many times and can't wait to see him!! 🐎💕 He's so beautiful and sweet and loves his racing with Michael Blowen!! He has such a wonderful life on the farm!! So happy for Old Friends and what they do for horses!! 🐎❤️

[@kathleenwalker1398]

Such a wonderful place for beautiful horses to retire in grace.

[@toneenorman2135]

Thank you for taking care of horses. They only have us to speak for them…All horses can use a “better deal”.

[@monikasaringer1152]

What a wonderful man & the horses deserve nothing less than that, so good to see

[@fearlesssfcappuccino]

Love Old Friends!! So great to see this feature

[@susancoulthard4414]

What a wonderful place, for these horses to live out there days in peace and comfort. ❤❤

[@lisawest9731]

Thank you, thank you!

[@joannleichliter4308]

I saw Silver Charm a few years back at Old Friends. It was a great experience to and Old Friends is a great place to visit.

[@haven_lady675]

Thats a beautiful huge farm. Big enough pastures for the horses to run around as they please 😊

[@babsbat]

a real warrior

[@idrearamacirmtamta1293]

Thank you, Sir💘

[@lulumoon6942]

*BLESS YOU MR. BLOWEN & LOVELY HERD! 🐴😍🐎🙏*

[@ratherbwithhorses]

30 is epic for a TB.

[@LittleBitofHopeToo2518]

Yes, the average age for a racehorse is 6.

[@foresthiker6707]

My girl, Cali (Cal Double, never raced) just turned 29. She's a sweet girl, and I just love her.

[@ratherbwithhorses]

@@foresthiker6707 enjoy every day with her. We have owned several off track Tbs over the years and the latest had a 6 year career and good winnings and her professional behavior is just remarkable, she trail rides and my daughter plays wirh roping off her . Parx racing has an excellent program for these horses and everyone who meets her is amazed by her confidence and calm grace.

[@casdragon_5939]

@@LittleBitofHopeToo2518 false, the average age for the TB is 26.

[@suzanneflowers2230]

This is beautiful and how it should be. God bless them all.

[@bnegs521]

Silver Charm lives in Georgetown KY at Old Friends. Buy a calender or donate if you can. What a place!

[@sandyedens9222]

What an absolutely wonderful place for these beautiful, magnificent horses. Thank you for creating a happy haven for them God bless you Sir.❤

[@claudetteking1039]

God BLESS this Man! ❤ 🙏 😇 ⛪️ 🐴 🐎

[@traceyhallman691]

Bless his ♥..I have a 32 yr old❤

[@Polopony20.]

That makes my boy (profile pic) 115! He turned 36 in April

[@CarolStJohn-ev9ry]

What a wonderful place, I wish I could visit.

[@maddogmattas8648]

God bless the old man.

[@michaelsoler8566]

Glad for that i love horses 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@nanag818]

Awwwww God bless him and his family. This is such a wonderful story

[@pibly7784]

God bless him.

[@MosesGomez-o7e]

Now this is an awesome video 📷📷📷📸📸📸📸📸 I'd love to get a picture of Silver Charm . ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@michaelconlee3925]

The farm is a great place to visit. Silver Charm is a friendly guy too

[@KnawedOne]

Silver Charm was a stunner!

[@tammytaylor1278]

Perfect retirement.

[@lauramoore8272]

❤ this is nice to hear.. nice kind people doing good works there

[@randybutler4772]

This is special video. Thank you for sharing.🐴

[@sarahbeets4686]

He is so beautiful. 💕 🤗 💕😊

[@janetcameron4743]

I'm curious as to why they aren't in small herds of 'friends.' It's good to see Silver Charm.

[@voiceofreason7856]

I thought that, but I wonder how many of them are still stallions, so have to be kept separated ?

[@alyssapowell1799]

He used to have a pony friend named Little Silver Charm. Probably he doesn't get along with other horses. Some of the other horses retired there do have their friends with them - and that includes goats. There's one of the horses there that won't go anywhere without his goat friends.

[@mrs.c5471]

If he’s still a stallion, and because Thoroughbreds when they get to running, haven been known to RUN right through fences……..

[@lisao9486]

The mares live in groups the geldings usually have a friend but stallions have their own paddocks

[@the_graves_boys]

​@@voiceofreason7856stallions shouldnt be separated either, it screws them up mentally because theyre social animals. stallions can absolutely be turned out with other familiar stallions or geldings, and they should be.

[@JodyFreeman-f6m]

God bless you

[@turbot6592]

God bless him

[@russellsalvador1620]

I was at Del Mar in 96 when he bronke his maiden, good to see he is still around.

[@lindanorris2455]

you go, sir!

[@BFashion24]

a nice video of silver charm

[@mslucyferr]

Thank God for people like Michael Blowen (sp?😬) & places like the "Old Friends Retirement Home"! 👏👏👏In a perfect world, all aging/retiring horses would have a place of this quality to go to! ...🐎♥️💯

[@amandamarcus9819]

What good ol boy

[@kvakma]

This cool fella, Silver Charm, and original founder of “Old Friends” Michael Blowen are absolutely amazing together. They are quite the special duo, and their unique relationship is delightfully entertaining to watch & enjoy~~

[@susancoddington6393]

What a much needed uplifting news story Silver Charm you are a very handsome guy 🐎❣

[@janethill4365]

The Thoroughbred folks have sadly allowed too many thoroughbreds end up in dire circumstances. Whether they don't care or too greedy it is disgusting to allow this

[@johnphillips2396]

I can't help but think about poor Ferdinand.

[@sandramorey2529]

Good to hear about this facility. All we hear about is horses being killed. These horses deserve to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. What about the horses that don't win?

[@leanneadams2549]

I absolutely LOVE this farm !!! I wonder if they get lightly rode yet if they are still sound ??? And wow Silver looks so good !!! ❤️🐴

[@nogames8982]

I’m sure they are not ridden. And I’m also sure that many of them are not completely sound. And off the track thoroughbred when they are young are out of control. They have just enough training to race and that’s it. So after their racing career is over most of them are probably never ridden again. Especially if they are then used for breeding.

[@LauraJdogmom]

The horses at Old Friends are not ridden. They are retired. Reasonably sound off-track TBs can be retrained as saddle horses and driving horses, and many are. Some of them need a job and are not happy being in a pasture all day. The great Lava Man was supposed to come to Old Friends following his retirement from the track, but he was unhappy without something to do. He became a track pony for Chad Brown's barn. He ponied Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another. He was known as Coach Lava Man. After some years as a pony, he was retired to Old Friends, where he is quite happy.

[@LauraJdogmom]

@@nogames8982 That's not true. OTTBs need a let-down period when they are fresh off the track, and they need to be retrained. However, TBs are very smart, and most take to retraining pretty easily. They can be dressage horses, eventers, hunter/jumpers, field hunters, trail horses, therapy horses, polo ponies, working ranch horses, barrel racers, and driving horses. It is true that most breeding horses aren't ridden, although some farms gallop their stallions.

[@tessdurberville711]

U.S. Thoroughbred are not started properly. Speed is more important than anything there. The UK knows how to start and train Thoroughbreds. Rare cases like Seattle Slew were still ridden on the farm.

[@faithvandersnow9370]

Old Friends is the BEST place to retire your racehorses❣

[@tessdurberville711]

They do not have unlimited room. Farms need to stop breeding and start turning their farms into retirement homes.

[@colleenmonfross4283]

I love this! I remember Silver Charm well. I love a gray! All of them deserve a soft place to land. We bring them into the world, we are responsible for them throughout their lives, period! If you don't want that responsibility, don't breed!

[@Hawkeyeis35]

The less famous thoroughbreds end up in the slaughter pipeline for human consumption. Sometimes even Kentucky derby winners end up as food as the 1986 derby winner, Ferdinand did. Google “ thoroughbred horses sent to slaughter”. While it’s a feel good story about select race houses enjoying retirement, it’s very rare. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 horses are put in the slaughter pipeline each year, a percentage of these are racehorses that didn’t win.

[@SugarWildflower-si4ox]

That is heart breaking 😢

[@henrietta9394]

@@SugarWildflower-si4ox not true for the rest of the world though. This wouldn't pass in the UK/Ireland especially. There's a thoroughbred census now for all racehorses in retirement in the UK and Ireland that keeps tabs on where they all went after racing - they are currently developing a mechanism to ensure 100% of horses can be traced at the first step out of racing. I recommend you search it and do your own research (provided it's from unbiased sources) rather than believing everything you see on youtube comments. It's not "very rare" that a thoroughbred gets a nice retirement. Outside of the USA, the majority get wonderful homes and are infact an incredibly versatile breed that can be retrained to do pretty much any discipline!

[@tessdurberville711]

The difference between Thoroughbreds from the U.K. and Thoroughbreds from the U.S. is the way they are started on the farm. UK Thoroughbreds receive​ much more ground training which makes it much easier to retrain them later. I have had both and the UK horses are better bred, started, and handled, including stallions. We needed a census here decades ago. Was Queen Elizabeth involved in that? It would not surprise her. British racing was lucky to have her.

[@SugarWildflower-si4ox]

@@henrietta9394 you are snobbish

[@cathyvannoy556]

The Japanese killed Ferdinand that's why I don't root for them to win the derby or any of our races

[@jhssmith2004]

awesome.

[@mariefraher8725]

Bravo1 Thank you for giving them the care they deserve!. Silver Charming is still very charming!

[@Laura-tp8wz]

Awww❤❤❤

[@nancybraybrooks5509]

i was always surprised when secretariat went lame from founder at 19. how could that happen if they were doing their job taking care of him

[@piggy_9]

Secretariat didn’t go lame, he had laminitis.

[@lindaburnette675]

Thank goodness for wonderful loving people who honor these majestic horses who deserve to live out their final years being taken are of. Blessings and thank you!❤❤❤

[@maryannweldin4633]

I’m v glad some cards to see these horses get retirement and not the kill pen

[@cynthiamcgee4829]

All old horses should live a life out like Silver Charm none of them should be shipped out to slaughterhouses. And that statement includes all horses.💕🐎

[@mrs.c5471]

I’v been to his farm when he was in Florida. My cousin bred several mares to him

[@AnnEstep-d2s]

Thank God

[@Vng370]

Why is he by himself give him a companion to talk to.

[@imhorsenaround]

It’s too bad the racing industry doesn’t do anything about the nursemare foals. Look it up. It’s too much to cover in this comment. There is ni reason for this and it is horrible

[@conniewolf7300]

Great job! Thank you!

[@TheLivingLife9]

Too bad Ferdinand never got that 😢

[@tessdurberville711]

Because his owners did not have a return agreement. The Keck family, Whittingham or Shoemaker could have kept in touch with the stud in Japan and made a deal. They did not save Exceller in Sweden, either. The Hunts, Whittingham (again) and Shoemaker (again).

[@emmawilde152]

I wish more racehorses could have this

[@kimburke7825]

How do they cut the horses manes like the have pharaohs mane.

[@conniewolf7300]

I remember him!

[@kennethmalone8104]

I watched the race

[@sandybeach4360]

Can we visit the farm pls??

[@suzanneyoung8011]

Yes, it is open to the public. Check their website.

[@arvinnichols27]

l hope SC got to bred this year

[@Poko0Chan]

So what is with those horses who did not win prices? Are they given retirement, or a Loving home? Or are those going to be forgotten or what?

[@henrietta9394]

They get either retirement or a new home. They are loved by the people that worked with them on the racing yards, and by the people that rehome them regardless of their racing successes.

[@franciscorodrigez7650]

Sadly, a lot of them end up going to either Canada or Mexico for slaughter.

[@tessdurberville711]

​@@henrietta9394 In England and Ireland mostly.

[@maggiefranks6849]

That's great. What about the over 2000 horses killed racing on US tracks every year? And that's just on track deaths recorded. Horseracing might as well be dogfighting

[@ValleyoftheRogue]

Shut up, troll.

[@nikkib2143]

That is a beautiful philosophy ❤ x.

[@karenburkhart3717]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@EmilyB-c9w]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊

[@bonniegettingthrumyday2866]

❤️😊🌸

[@johncameron4194]

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@smackaroo4159]

OTTBs are certainly worth looking at, too! Not every thoroughbred is a winner, and not all get to retire. Some honestly would go stir crazy if you tried to retire them! They take some special time and training though, but I hear they try hard for you.

[@americanwoman8947]

Love their retirement..most are killed or die being raced before adulthood at age 5. Why do the horses have halter left on them? Too many horses die when left with halter that get caught on something. Hugh mistake!

[@jaynfontain6635]

notice that neither his owner, breeder nor trainer have provided for him

[@ValleyoftheRogue]

You know this, how?

[@kelseysparrow]

This is entirely untrue. Bob and Jill Baffert are major benefactors of Old Friends, and Jill is on the board. His owners are now deceased.

[@tessdurberville711]

He is one of the ones who was provided for. His owners had a return agreement when his stud careers ended.

[@ldirk58601]

I love this but he's alone. Does he have a friend to be a part of a herd with?

[@Redwarfa]

Derby is pronounced darby

[@SugarWildflower-si4ox]

Not in America

[@Redwarfa]

@@SugarWildflower-si4ox no they can't pronounce or spell Derby is an english word and deserves its english pronunciation

[@kowgyrl]

I owned a half brother of his many years ago. I gave him to a wonderful gentleman outside of Ocala, FL so he could be retired young (3 yrs old) and live a pampered long life. He got EPM while in training on the track. He fell behind on time with the other colts of his age group during his treatment. He made a full recovery but was too old to catch back up for racing. Now I wonder if he might still be alive..... Unfortunately I lost touch with the man after I moved out of state. 🤞🤍🐴

[@CourtneysCornerYT]

I’m in Ocala, do you remember the gentleman’s name?

[@kowgyrl]

​@@CourtneysCornerYT Unfortunately I don't. I should ask my mother if maybe she does, I can ask her this evening. Thank you🙏💕

[@ebybeehoney]

This is a wonderful place because so many race horses end up slaughtered rather than retired.