From Michael Blowen.../Old Friends
Over the years, several people stopped by Old Friends to tell us we had a dead horse in the front paddock. "No," I would explain. "It's Grandpa, Fortunate Prospect, just relaxing." When his time came, I think everyone expected that he'd just lie down in the grass, like Flying Pidgeon, and surrender to the inevitability of it all. But, of course, that's not what happened. It's never what we expect.
I remember, so many years ago, reading that Farnsworth Farm was going out of the breeding business and putting the farm up for sale. I contacted Farnsworth's Michael Sherman and told him we'd love to have Fortunate Prospect retired to Old Friends. He said that if he couldn't place him as a stallion, he'd donate him to us. It took nearly two years and many phone calls but we finally brought him to spend his last years with us. And we were so lucky.
In spite of his being our elder statesman, it seemed like he would
go on forever. He knew how to take care of himself. He had a quiet
dignity...very self-contained. He was also kind to visitors without
ever giving up an ounce of his self-respect. He wouldn't beg for
anything. His eyes, even in his later stages, never missed a thing. I
think everyone who ever had the marvelous experience of being in his presence will never forget it. I know I won't
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