Thunder is the official live animal mascot for the Denver Broncos football team. Three purebred Arabians have held this role since 1993, all gray horses whose coats lightened with age until they turned completely white. Thunder’s duties as mascot typically include leading the team onto the field at the start of every home game, and a gallop down the length of the field whenever the team scores a touchdown or field goal.
About Thunder (mascot) in brief
Thunder is the official live animal mascot for the Denver Broncos football team. Three purebred Arabians have held this role since 1993, all gray horses whose coats lightened with age until they turned completely white. As of 2016, Thunder has appeared in four Super Bowls with the team since 1998. Thunder’s duties as mascot typically include leading the team onto the field at the start of every home game, and a gallop down the length of the field whenever the team scores a touchdown or field goal. Thunder and his rider also interact with fans before the game; the horse is particularly popular with children, who are allowed to pet him. Thunder shares mascot duties with Miles, a human who wears a horse head mask atop a Broncos uniform. The original Thunder, later named \”Thunder Sr. \”, was described as bold and courageous. He was a stallion registered as JB Kobask, a former show horse, who was team mascot from 1993 until his retirement in 2004. Thunder Sr. continued making community appearances until his death in 2009. Thunder II was succeeded in 2004 by an Arabian gelding registered as Winter Solstyce. Thunder III was the understudy to Thunder II, and trained specifically for mascot duties beginning at age three when he was started under saddle. He began performing at preseason games in 2013. Thunder retired from mascot duties in early 2014 but appeared in the 2016 Super Bowl 50 victory parade in downtown Denver following the Broncos win over the Carolina Panthers. Thunder appeared in Times Square and on television morning news shows in New York City as part of the pre-game promotion for Super Bowl XLVIII.
He has been flown on airplanes, ridden in elevators, and appeared indoors at press conferences and banquets. When team uniforms were redesigned in 1997, Thunder was the inspiration to incorporate a horse-head profile on the team’s new helmets. During a press conference introducing the new design, the team president and art director described it as the powerful horse with a fiery eye and a fiery mane for a powerful eye and eye. He appeared on T-shirts, and was referred to as the \”second most popular Bronco\” after former quarterback John Elway. He is described as laid-back, preferring to doze off during games when not performing, and is particularlypopular with children,. He was particularly popular in the community and has appeared at parades, makes hospital and school visits, and attends various other public functions. He also appeared at Elway’s 1999 retirement gala. He retired in 2004 after serving 11 years as the team mascot, and Magness-Blake replaced him with Thunder II. He had been the personal pleasure riding horse of Magness Arabians prior to taking on his new role as team mascot. As the team anticipated the need for a gray horse and anticipated a replacement for Thunder Sr., Magness added a third horse to be added to the team. He said, “Thunder is friendly, and Broncos fans think it’s good luck for the opposing team to pet our mascot”
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This page is based on the article Thunder (mascot) published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
