Denver Broncos’ horse Thunder’s owner, rider and handler retire after 33 years, but a white horse will still run

Before you panic, Broncos Country: there will still be a white horse running after every Denver touchdown. Deep breaths. Now, here’s the emotional part.

After 33 years, the entire team behind Thunder, the iconic white horse that has galloped across the end zone after Broncos scores since 1993, is riding off into the sunset.

Owner Sharon Magness-Blake, who provided all four Thunders going back to the Pat Bowlen era, is stepping away. So is rider Ann Judge, who has been in the saddle for nearly 30 years across all four horses. And handler Ernie, who cared for the animals on game days, is hanging it up too. It’s the end of a dynasty that outlasted every head coach, every quarterback and all of those stadium name changes.

The tradition started after the 1992 season, when Bowlen wanted to boost the game-day experience. He had general manager John Beake ask Magness-Blake — a world-renowned Arabian horse breeder — if she had a white horse. “I said, ‘Yes sir, I do,'” she told 9NEWS. “‘Would you like to be the Denver Broncos mascot?’ ‘I would love to be the Denver Broncos mascot. Are you kidding me?'” Thunder I debuted in 1993, and over the following three decades, Magness-Blake provided three more Thunders — each a white horse, each trained for the controlled chaos of an NFL stadium.

The Broncos confirmed to 9NEWS that the mascot will continue under new management: the team itself will own the next Thunder, who will again be a white horse and will gallop after every Broncos score, except safeties.

“I wish them the very, very best,” Judge said. “But I probably won’t be able to watch for a while. Honestly.”