As more than 76,000 fans settle into their seats at Mile High Stadium for a Denver Broncos home game, there’s one tradition that’s a must before play can commence. Minutes before kickoff, the in-stadium announcer loudly proclaims, “Here comes ...Thunder,” cuing a gray horse to gallop down a chute and onto the field ahead of the Denver players. And for every Denver touchdown, Thunder and his rider take a tour of the field in celebration.
Since his first appearance in 1993 until September 20, 2026, when he was honored with a “Passing the Reins” ceremony, Thunder has been portrayed by four gray Arabians owned and bred by Sharon Magness Blake. For most of Thunder’s tenure, he was ridden by trainer and USEF judge Ann Judge, who also retired from riding in the games. Now Thunder is being portrayed by a gray Andalusian and has a new rider.
“It really has been an awesome opportunity to be an advocate for horses,” said Judge. “Our job is bigger than just being cheerleaders on horseback for the Denver Broncos even though that’s really important. We’ve been able to show people all the incredible, magnetic, majestic things about horses in a public venue. There’s 76,000 people at a Broncos game, and in how many venues do we get to have horses in front of that many people? We’ve always felt like we had a big responsibility to horses in general.”
In addition to their appearances at games, Judge, Thunder, and Blake participate in community outreach, making appearances to benefit organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, Volunteers of America, and Hearts and Horses, an equine-assisted therapy program serving children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities, at-risk youth, individuals with dementia and veterans. While Thunder IV is bidding farewell to performing on the field, he’ll still be involved in community outreach.
It’s been an incredible journey for Judge, who was once a horse-crazy girl who took up riding with her two sisters in Indiana. Aboard the Arabians who won her heart, Judge dabbled in everything the breed had to offer from English and western pleasure to side saddle and everything in between. After graduating from Purdue University, she took a job with Jim Fisher at Dixieland Arabians.
Fisher was a great mentor in both her riding and judging careers, and in 1985 Judge moved to Denver where she established her own Arabian and Half-Arabian training business. A few years later, Blake approached her about riding Thunder I.
Galloping a horse to the roar of more than 76,000 people is an experience few people have, and Judge is in awe of everything the experience has taught her.
“I thought I knew a lot about horses — it was the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “I’ve learned so much about horses and what they will do for you.”
One moment that stands out is when they all traveled to New York City for Super Bowl XLVI in 2014. Worried the polar vortex would impede their travel by road, they flew Thunder III — who had never performed anywhere but during preseason games — to New York. While they’d carefully rehearsed the timing of the pyrotechnics and Thunder’s entrance, on game day, it didn’t go quite to plan. Thunder was announced sooner than expected and before the pyrotechnics had fully finished.
“He basically ran through fire for me, and it still makes me cry,” said Judge. “It’s humbling — he had every excuse to say, ‘There’s no way I’m going out there,’ and instead he said, ‘If you say it’s all right, here we go.’ He went totally straight and true.
“To generalize, the biggest thing I’ve learned is that horses are so faithful to us, and we have to be faithful to them.”
It’s a lesson she’s carried with her for years, and one she thinks of often when judging. Her own performances have opened her understanding of how all equestrians need to be each other’s advocates. She aims to approach each ride she judges with the same enthusiasm and commitment to the fans who cheered her and Thunder on each week.
Judge first got involved in judging when she was a junior as part of a youth judging team in Arabian. She found it suited her and led her to pursue USEF licenses in western dressage, western, Morgan, and Arabian.
She’s also a member of the USEF Western Dressage Committee, which she’s found to be incredibly rewarding.
“I love this committee because everyone has an equal voice,” she said. “Even if you don’t agree with the general feeling of the committee, you don’t feel intimidated about expressing your ideas at all. That’s how western dressage is in general, there’s room for everybody — it’s very inclusive.”
While Judge has passed the reins to a new Thunder team, her love for horses, and specifically Arabians, remains strong.
“What stands out to me is their desire to partner with people,” she said. “Some people think they’re hot — they’re not, because if they were, I wouldn’t have been able to have four Arabians on an NFL football field. They really have emotional connections to people, and they want to partner so badly, but it does take an immense amount of responsibility as their rider and caregiver.”