SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18)– Old Friends Farm in Scott County is a place where Thoroughbred racehorses go to retire and be honored once their time at the track is over.
Thousands of people visit the farm every year and all of their donations go to making the Thoroughbreds’ final days as relaxing as possible.
“Throughout most of their lives, we need them. We need them to perform on the race track, we need them to perform in the breeding shed, we need them to make money, we need them to do a lot of things because without them, there’s nothing. But at the end of the day, when they need us, then we’re there for them,” said Michael Blowen, the president and founder of Old Friends Farm.
Two recent visitors decided they wanted to do something different with their donations.
Pat and Shannon Spalding are using their business, Kentucky Monument, to donate headstones for the horses who finish those final days at Old Friends Farm.
“When they decided that they were going to really step it up, and start to provide headstones for all of our horses, it was huge,” Blowen said.
He told LEX 18 that some horses have headstones donated by previous owners or fans, but the ones who don’t get a wooden marker. He said it means so much to him to now be able to do more.
“I’m hoping that eventually, because of the Spaldings and their extraordinary generosity that all of these horses, that each of them deserve a headstone and they’ll all have a headstone, and it’ll be a really great final tribute to these magnificent athletes,” said Blowen.
