AnEquine Pastime
CENTER TWP — A race horse's retirement isn't all gold cups and rose wreaths. In fact, once an animal's days of winning purses or garnering stud fees have ended, the next finish line for many horses is at the slaughterhouse door.
But Old Friends provides another option for horses past their prime: a 200-acre farm where more than 177 rescued and retired race horses can live out their days.
The equine aftercare center in Georgetown, Ky., near Lexington, has one Butler County fan, someone who has visited it seven times since she discovered it in 2006.
Karen Keck, 59, of 117 Lakeview in Center Township, said, “I didn't even know it existed until I made my first trip to Lexington seven years ago.”
“My sister-in-law (Susan Montgomery) had gotten us tickets to a Reba (McEntire) show in Lexington,” said Keck.
“We had done some sightseeing and I saw this barn and I was hooked,” she said.
“The more I knew about the story of the horses, the more I had a passion for it,” she added.
Keck, a retired nurse, said Old Friends is the final stop for race horses whose owners would otherwise dispose of them to save on the expense of the animal's upkeep.
The facility was started in 2004 by former Boston Globe movie critic Michael Blowen, Keck said, and its horses are never saddled or harnessed but spend their days roaming free across their pastures.
Keck said Old Friends has some famous horses such as War Emblem and Silver Charm, both Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners.
“They stay until they die of old age,” said Keck who just returned from her seventh trip to the retirement farm where she spent time talking to the horses and feeding them carrots by the bucketful.“I go every year. There's something special about these horses. Some are pretty high-strung personality wise,” she said. She said she stays five days at a time.“I go down and spend time with the horses once a year. They need some attention,” said Keck, a horse owner herself who keeps an North American spotted draft horse named Annie at Abbott Farm, 1219 Kiester Road, Slippery Rock Township.Keck said being around the horses for days at a time is very therapeutic.And, in Keck's case, that's not just a figure of speech. Keck said she is an alcoholic.“I bought my horse three months after I got sober. I haven't had a drink since,” she said.“I think, for me, it's a matter of self esteem and caring for something a lot larger than me,” she said. “I feel I can look in her eyes and see her soul, and that's amazing.”Keck said it makes her sad owners can dispose of horses, even famous one such as Silver Charm, so quickly when the horses can no longer make money.“Not all owners are like that, but a good many are,” said Keck.Barbara Fossum, a board member at Old Friends, said many in the racing industry have formed the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, which levies a voluntary assessment on all segments of the industry — trainers, owners, breeders, tracks — to fund efforts to find better ends for retired race horses.“Some can be retrained, have their brains rewired from racing,” said Fossum. “We are a retirement farm. They come here and stay until they die.“We have horses of many different physical conditions and many different ages,” said Fossum. “Horses ages' range from 5 to 29 years old.”Fossum added, “The horses are not ridden or bred. The biggest decision they have every day is if they want to say hi to the people on the tours.”While the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance raised $3 million, the Old Friends farm is financed 100 percent through donations, $10 tour group fees and gift shop profits, Fossum said.Keck said you can't put a price on what the horses provide her.“It's so peaceful and nice. It's like a spa. A lot of them I can actually pet, but old War Emblem is something else,” she noted, saying the former champion has little use for human contact.A lot of other people feel the same way. According to the farm, it attracts nearly 20,000 visitors annually who want to look at Silver Charm and War Emblem if only from a distance.
