Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Christine Fiorilla — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:41:25 GMT

I just had the pleasure and honor of speaking to Michael Blowen on the phone...courtesy of Carlos Figueroa. I am planning a trip to take my 10-year old son to Kentucky and visit Old Friends as well as the Kentucky Horse Park and any other farm that will allow us a look at their beautiful horses.

My whole life I have loved and followed horseracing. What Michael is doing for these horses is tremendous and should be commended to the higheest level. He is a wonderful man and I cannot wait to meet him and his wife as well as the horses I grew up watching and loving. I'm sure it will be a trip I will never forget.

You're a good man Michael...keep up the great work!! Hope to meet you soon!

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Help! — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:44:09 GMT

Would it not be better to help the unwanted horses that are starving in the killer pens? Money should be directed to retraining Tb's, make them USEFUL!

There are lots of groups who retrain or find good homes for horses but they get very little funding because they put all their money towards the horses not fundraising .

I don't believe retired Stallions need to be saved, let the farms where they stood take care of them, same for successful racehorses.

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Barbara W — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:05:43 GMT

Great column! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Esther Marr — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:50:49 GMT

Hi, Gail, I actually did do a blog on Our Mims recently:

cs.bloodhorse.com/.../half-sister-to-alydar-is-one-of-many-famous-residents-at-our-mims.aspx

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Gail — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 04:55:57 GMT

Please do an article on Our Mims.

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Kelsey Riley — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:22:09 GMT

Thank you all for your nice comments. Flying Start certainly has been a wonderful experience. Txhorsefan: the link for Turf Beat is now fixed.

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

rad123 — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:22:50 GMT

I think the horse actually might be Northern Stone AKA Rocky, not Kudos....

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Liz — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:29:59 GMT

Fabulous to see Benburb. I did not know he was there, but now I will try and get to Kentucky to see him. Dan Loiselle's race call when he beat AP Indy made me cry. It seems like yesterday!

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Dani — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:48:18 GMT

Kelsey - like Deb said 'You all are so lucky!!!" What a fantastic program. Such a fabulous way to learn the ropes in the industry and the invaluable experience that you gain will surely pave the way for you to get your foot planted firmly in the door when you've 'graduated'. It must have been such a treat to learn the farrier part of the program at one of the most wonderful places in the world, Old Friends. I wish you well as you continue on and hope we hear from you again.

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

txhorsefan — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:19:50 GMT

Thank you for sharing your experience at hoof trimming at Old Friends. How wonderful to share some special time with the retirees and bravo for braving the cold like that! The photos are great also and I will be looking forward to more articles from you as you progress on your journey through the Flying Start program. By the way, the link to the blog doesn't work for me, but by going to twitter, I was able to get to your blog from there. Maybe it is just my computer or the operator, but any way... thank you!

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battllc — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:33:18 GMT

I believe the horse in the photo is Kudos.

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Denise — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:04:08 GMT

In the picture captioned "Darley Flying Start students preparing for hoof trimming at Old Friends," who is the horse?

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Susie — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:28:25 GMT

Thank you Kelsey! What a delightful read. And love the pictures, too.

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Deb — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:51:36 GMT

You all are so lucky!!!

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Rachel — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:14:38 GMT

I finally decided to learn to do my own horses and have done them the last 10 years or so, you are so right...good farriers are worth their weight in gold! It's hard work!

♥ to all the retirees.

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

LouAnn Cingel of Union, Missouri — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:38:24 GMT

Absolutely fantastic!

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

Tim — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:59:34 GMT

Fortunate Prospect is an '81 model making him 30--it's a very minor thing but 30 is such a major threshold for a thoroughbred. He is truly a great horse and loved by everyone that gets the chance to meet him.

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

BabaSali — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:40:58 GMT

This sounds like a really interesting program you're in Kelsey! However it already seems like you are on your way to career in journalism. Good luck with your endevors and I hope you were able to see Commentator while you were out there. He was an exciting horse in New York and watching him run in the Whitney was so thrilling. Thank you for helping take care of those great Old Friends! (And Diana...I believe that white stuff is snow! However I'm sure it made it quite hard for them to trim horses in that weather!)

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tbpartnerperson43 — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:07:01 GMT

Who was lucky enough to do the pony? LOL

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Blue Blue Sea — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:30:36 GMT

What an awesome program all the way around. Love seeing Old Friends!

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Arts and Letters — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:07:25 GMT

It's great to see Benburb - I didn't know he was there. I remember him running and was a great fan!

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DBH — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:24:46 GMT

Awesome program !

re: Hoofing It Up at Old Friends

diastu — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:05:35 GMT

What an awesome program and a fabulous opportunity for all of you. Blessings to Sheikh Mohammed for his insight and forward thinking. Your article was a hoot to read and I'm sure many of us would love to read more of the various parts of this obviously intense program. Good for you! And good luck with your future studies! P.S. What is that white stuff? Diana in Phoenix