Old Friends

Most Recent Comments

• October 2023 by Avery Adams
  A wonderful place for the thoroughbred retirees, with a very personal tour. Carrots are provided. You'll meet some famous retirees and some who aren't so famous, all lovable and beautiful.
• September 2023 by Jackie Adler
  We booked a private tour at The Old Friends Farm in early August and were fortunate enough to have a beautiful day.You meet at the Gift Shop for an introductory video that talks about how the Farm came to be. From there, a lovely older gentleman had us hop on a golf cart and away we went.It was an amazing 2 hours of meeting horses, feeding them (and occasionally petting them), and hearing their histories. He was a wealth of knowledge. The fact that our tour was private gave us more time to spend with the horses as well.I absolutely recommend putting this on your must do list if you are planning to visit Lexington.
• September 2023 by Kim Howell
  Thank you, Michael Blowen, for creating these havens for our famous (and not so famous!) retirees! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, especially meeting Lava Man and seeing Silver Charm again! (I was there the day he came to stud at Three Chimneys?) I will indeed come back!
• August 2023 by Virginia Marshall
  Love the history of the fort. Several people were in costume and gave useful information about the period. Easy walk around fort
• August 2023 by 13R0SE
  We booked a tour at Old Friends & it was the highlight of our trip. Kudos to the founder for such a wonderful idea. It was such a delight to see the retired horses. A guide takes you around & gives you some of the history of each horse you visit. You are given a container full of carrots that you get to feed to most of the horses. I was surprised by the number of horses that we visited. It is a walking tour. They did have a golf cart for a few people who couldn’t do the walk. Overall, a great experience. I would definitely return & do this again. Everyone that works here was very friendly. If you want a chance to get close, touch, or give a treat to a horse- this is your place! And how can you not want to support this program.
• August 2023 by 330lennaw
  It was heartwarming to see these great athletes (as Michael Blowen calls them) enjoying their later years after having worked so hard for their trainers and owners. Historically racehorses have been callously disgarded or slaughtered for dog food when their purses diminish. I have wanted to visit Old Friends since i first learned about it when it was just getting started in 2003. What a thrill to see it now, home to 240 famous and not so famous thoroughbreds. I brought my grown son and his friend along on the tour. They could only imagine mud, flies and manure and fiesty, wild tempermental stallions. The farm is beautifully maintained and the horses a delight. My reluctant companions LOVED the tour and all they learned. I especially loved learning about the improved practices in the racing industry such as pre race xrays to check for hairline fractures. This practice probably would have saved the life of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro who faltered in the Preakness with a hind leg broken in more than 20 places.
• August 2023 by glamb1313
  This was fun, informative, up close, and very friendly. From the office staff to our tour guide, it was easy to talk with them. Our tour guide was very informative and took a lot of questions. He did not rush. They had a long golf cart to ride in just in case you couldn't walk the course.
• July 2023 by Larry Hillebrand
  Its a great way to see race horses up close .from claiming horses to KY derby running horses an to here the story of these beautiful animals is the best part my girlfriend an I go there several times a year to see the new horses an to grieve for the baby that hav passed .if u go here u will want to continue to go there
• July 2023 by S2030HKkater
  It was wonderful to see how the race horses are enjoying their retirement. You could tell they were receiving great treatment. It was fun learning about the history of the farm and the race horses.
• July 2023 by Stephanie Cummings
  Not to be missed!Heard about this farm from a friend and decided to take a tour while in town. The tour, led by Tom, was excellent. We met and had the opportunity to feed many horses. The farm clearly loves the horses. Some of the horses have restrictions on what they can eat so Tom had shredded carrots and chipped carrots for those. Too cute!If you are in town, you should consider supporting this amazing organization. Not only will you have a great time but you will be supporting the care of these beautiful creatures.
• July 2023 by Winnipeg4
  To be honest, we knew little about horses and nothing about horse racing, but that didn't matter - we learned a ton from our guide Lloyd! The horses were spectacular. Feeding them was so much fun, but also learning about each of their histories was fascinating. Highly recommend!
• July 2023 by Stephanie C
  Heard about this farm from a friend and decided to take a tour while in town. The tour, led by Tom, was excellent. We met and had the opportunity to feed many horses. The farm clearly loves the horses. Some of the horses have restrictions on what they can eat so Tom had shredded carrots and chipped carrots for those. Too cute! If you are in town, you should consider supporting this amazing organization. Not only will you have a great time but you will be supporting the care of these beautiful creatures.
• June 2023 by David Blair
  This wonderful place for retired race horse. I'm so glad the founder and its supporters have created this beautiful facility for the beautiful critters. Please visit and consider à donation to the cause. Currently, there are 168 horse to care for.
• June 2023 by Brian Gresl
  What a gem of a place to visit. We chose this as our "horse racing" place to visit and could not have made a better decision. The 1.5 hour guided tour were was a blend of horse racing history and petting zoo. The horses were so sweet and the owner even stopped by and talked to our group for a bit.
• May 2023 by Dan Reyes
  Thank for hosting us, and for making the visit with my parents so much more comfortable with the use of the cart.My dad has loved horses his whole life, he never imaged visiting Kentucky and going to Churchill Downs, the icing was spending some time with past stars of the Derby.My dad thoroughly enjoyed his time here, and thanks for what you do to make the next life of these athletes enjoyable.