Old Friends’ “official spokeshorse” Little Silver Charm was put down Saturday, Aug. 30.
“We’re heartbroken to share that our farm mascot, Little Silver Charm, has succumbed to the infirmities of his ancient age, estimated between 38 and 40,” Old Friends Equestrian Center wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.
“The self-described busiest horse on the farm, Little Silver Charm handled all of his roles with style, wit, and, yes, charm. … He is irreplaceable.”
Little Silver Charm, a miniature horse, was a fan-favorite among Old Friends visitors, said Michael Blowen, Old Friends founder and owner of Little Silver Charm.
“People come, obviously, to see the superstars in the sport: the Derby winners, Preakness winners, Breeders’ Cup winners,” Blowen said. “But there’s certain people — a lot of kids, especially — that aren’t interested in horse racing at their age.
“But they love Little Silver Charm, and he loved the kids.”
Following the announcement of Little Silver Charm’s passing, Blowen and the rest of Old Friends have received overwhelming support, with Blowen alone receiving over 2,000 messages, he said.
“People loved him,” said Diane White, Blowen’s wife. “They really did.”
A “trademark” of Old Friends, Little Silver Charm became something of a local celebrity, Blowen said.
“When tourism adopted him as one of their spokesmen for how great Georgetown/Scott County is, when they adopted him, he became uber famous,” he said.
“He loved all the attention,” Blowen said. “He did know that he was significant in some way, because every time the car came up the driveway, everybody made a big deal.”
Losing Little Silver Charm was like losing a family member, he said.
“Anybody that’s in love with anything, it’s hard to explain why you’re in love with that person or that thing,” Blowen said. “And it’s hard to explain why we’re in love with (Little Silver Charm), but one look at him, and you would know why. He’s left a big hole here in the farm, in our lives, and everything else.”
“He was so important to the development of Old Friends,” he said. “He sent a good message to everybody. He was kind, he was a nice horse.”
Blowen had nothing but fond memories of Little Silver Charm, he said.
“Sometimes, in the last couple of days when I was thinking about him, I’d wake up in the middle of the night, and it would make me laugh,” Blowen said.
“It’s not depressing, in a way,” he said. “(Little Silver Charm) lasted a long time. We did the right thing.”
The horses declining health was the reason for putting down the horse, he said.
“He was tough,” Blowen said. “I hated the day we had to euthanize him, but you’re looking at him, and you know his feet were sore, and he was sore, he had so many things that were incurable. … We did everything to try to make his life good.”
Little Silver Charm was originally taken in by horse trainer Lorita Lindemann, who discovered the miniature horse on a truck trailer heading to a slaughterhouse, Blowen said.
“She heard some banging from the inside (of the trailer),” he said.
Lindemann found Little Silver Charm inside, Blowen said. The miniature horse then stayed in a thoroughbred stable, until track officials decided he could no longer be kept there, he said.
“They kicked (Little Silver Charm) out,” Blowen said. “I said, ‘Send him down here, and we’ll take care of him,’ and that’s how we got him.”
After taking in Little Silver Charm around 2001, Blowen decided to change the horse’s name from ‘Brownie,’ he said, about 15 years before Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Silver Charm would retire at Old Friends.
“I thought that (Brownie) was a very ‘bleh’ name,” he said. “Silver Charm was always my favorite racehorse, even though I’d never met him or seen him in person. So when (Brownie) came down here, we renamed him Little Silver Charm.”
Little Silver Charm has been buried in Old Friends’ Legend Cemetery, Blowen said, where a gravestone will be installed.
“We usually do a commemoration of all the horses that (have) died on Memorial Day,” he said. “But, I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to do with (Little Silver Charm), or whether we’re going to have a separate one.”
Jocelyn Russel, who created a sculpture of Secretariat located at Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive, will also create a statue in honor of Little Silver Charm, Blowen said.
“She’s already got the model,” he said. “The clay model is there. So, she’s working on it.”