We’d Love to Own: Winter Solstyce
Read all about Thunder, the Denver Broncos' mascot.

Barn name: Thunder II.

Thunder “thunders” down the field after a Denver Broncos’ touchdown.

Details: 1994 gray Arabian gelding by Solstice and out of Camila, by Gondolier.

Owned by: Sharon Magness Blake, Englewood, Colorado.

Trained by: Ann Judge-Wegener, Bennet, Colorado.

You probably know him as: The Denver Broncos’ mascot who “thunders” down the football field after each touchdown.

A good sense of humor: “He’s very playful. At the games if we’re not scoring, he plays with water bottles,” says Sharon. “I’ve taught him to pull my (coat) zipper up and down.”

A strong bond: “He trusts Annie and trusts me, in order to do what he does. It’s unusual for a horse to be able to take that kind of noise and stimulation and behave very well,” Sharon says.

Only a little spoiled: “The caterers bring him peeled, diced carrots be- fore every game,” says Ann. “During one of the cold games when I was sipping on hot cider, I discovered that he really wanted some. So now he gets hot cider, too.”

Loves attention: “Thunder’s very tender and wonderful with kids. He’ll play with them, ruffle up their hair, or blow kisses in their faces,” Ann says. “He’s very tolerant, but he’s got a great sense of humor. He’s really hilarious. If he sees a camera, he immediately faces it and puts his ears up.”

Leading the team: One of the most dangerous parts of Thunder’s job is leading out the Broncos at a home game. “You’ve got the cheerleaders with their pompoms in front?which he’s not crazy about?and the team getting excited behind you,” Sharon says. “Now, I put my face on his face, and I stay there as long as I can, and he just stays very quiet. The proudest I’ve been was when Annie went to run out of the tunnel, and someone ran in front of her. Thunder stopped on a dime.”

CATEGORIES
TAGS
Related Articles
HR_23FALL_Ranch Trail_05
Test Your Ranch Trail Knowledge!
Trivia Challenge: Are You Ranch Trail Ready?
018_HR_SPG24_travel_American Performance Horseman_01
Your Guide to Fort Worth for TAPH
The American Performance Horseman Takes Over Fort Worth
The front view of a rider in jeans, cowboy chaps and checkered shirt on a reining horse slides to a stop in the red clay an arena
Are You Taking Proper Care of His Joints?
Take Our Quiz! How Joint-Smart Are You?
H&R_Trivia-Challenge
Trivia Time!
Trivia Challenge: Test Your Equine Osteoarthritis Knowledge!
Newsletter
Receive news and promotions for Horse & Rider and other Equine Network offers.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Country*

Additional Offers

Additional Offers
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Horse and Rider
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.