When a city’s NFL mascot gets its own Super Bowl ring, you know you’ve got a champion on your hands.
That was the case with Thunder, the Denver Broncos’ real-life mascot, after the team won the 2016 Super Bowl. Yes, it was a real ring, but also a symbolic gesture — just like Thunder. A quartet of majestic, white Arabian horses, all owned by Denver entrepreneur and philanthropist Sharon Magness Blake, have appeared under the name at games and events over the last three decades, even flying to select cities and appearing on TV shows.
Just as important, Magness Blake said, have been the celebrity equine’s appearances at the National Western Stock Show during its 16-day run at the National Western Center, which takes place each January in Denver.
Ernie Blake, Sharon Magness Blake, and Ann Judge open the 2017 National Western Stock Show with the Denver Broncos mascot, Thunder. (Steve Peterson — Special to The Denver Post file)
“All the Thunders have been out there,” said Magness Blake, who has been providing Arabians to the Broncos since 1993. “They’ve been at roping classes, or done Dancing with the Horses on Kid’s Day. We have a free kids day at the (Stock Show), but last time I was there with Thunder they had neglected to tell us it was going to be 3,000 kids!”
The turnout surprised Magness Blake, who’s a trustee of the event, but it makes sense given that attendance has been up year-over-year since 2021, with a total of about 700,000 earlier this year (with revenues “rising accordingly,” according to the Stock Show).
In September, Stock Show leaders named Magness Blake 2025’s Citizen of the West, a prestigious award that recognizes not only her work with animals, but her wide-ranging, massively successful fundraising for nonprofits and worthy causes — to the tune of more than $100 million by this point.
“I grew up in Philadelphia with modest means, so I gravitate toward women who are abused, children and the elderly,” she said of her fundraising work. “I also grew up loving horses, but didn’t have access to them because I lived in a city of concrete.”
“What has always struck me about Sharon is how comfortable she is with all people,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper, then governor of Colorado, in 2011 when Magness Blake won the Mizel Community Enrichment Award. “She is literally right at home with some of the biggest stars in show business, but not at the expense of others. Few have her level of grace; there’s always such a sense of joy around her.”
Magness Blake’s ability to land stars such as Garth Brooks for fundraisers has helped her success. But the 46th Citizen of the West award is particular to Denver, honoring those “who embody the spirit and determination of the Western pioneer – a true representative of Western lifestyle, ideals, agricultural heritage, and traditions,” according to the Stock Show. A panel of community leaders selects recipients, they said. That includes past winners and honchos at the 118-year-old event.
“Sharon is an extraordinary citizen and philanthropist, supportive and freely giving of her talent, time and treasure,” wrote Pete Coors, chairman of the Stock Show’s $150 million capital campaign, Honoring the Legacy, in an email to The Denver Post.
Magness Blake is a committee member of Honoring the Legacy, which is raising funds to support transformative construction on the National Western Complex’s grounds. She’s also an old friend, and a known quantity when it comes to supporting key Denver causes, Coors said. Like him, Magness Blake is one of Colorado’s business and philanthropic elite, but also a boots-on-the-ground type when it comes to Western culture.
“Sharon’s love of horses is legendary; from owning and raising Arabian horses to thrilling Denver Broncos fans with Thunder she has made innumerable contributions to the world of horses,” he wrote.
Magness Blake, the widow of billionaire cable TV pioneer Bob Magness, who died in 1996, has long raised and trained horses. As the Stock Show rightly boasts, Magness Racing Ventures sold 900 racing horses worldwide at its peak. Since 2004, Magness Blake has been married to former Breckenridge mayor and retired attorney Ernie Blake, who also shares her love of horses and travels with Thunder.
From left, Dianna Kunz, Pat Robinson, Sharon Magness Blake, Ernie Blake, and Geoff Lewis at the 2018 Western Fantasy event, benefiting Volunteers of America, at the National Western Events Center in Denver, Colorado. (Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post file)
Magness, who lives with Blake in Cherry Hills, has sat on boards and raised money for Volunteers of America, the Denver Council of Boy Scouts of America, the University of Colorado Hospital Foundation, the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Denver Center for the Performing Arts and many others. She’s also president of the Thunder Foundation, a partner with Denver’s Epicurean Catering, and organizer of the Denver Broncos’ annual holiday party for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.
Still, she’s most closely associated in society circles with Western Fantasy, the main fundraiser for Volunteers of America, through which she’s raised about $40 million over the last three decades. She’s stepping back from that now, she said, following a couple of staph infections over the last year that nearly killed her, both from back surgeries.
Fortunately, last year’s Western Fantasy raised $2.8 million — thanks in part to her husband stepping in to sell tables while she was recovering.
“It’s funny because I am very competitive,” she said of the 31-year-old event, which she co-founded with Jean Galloway. “We beat every other event in Denver last year in (fundraising totals), which was our first year ever to do that. So this was going out on a high note for me.”
She’s confident that when the $1 billion Stock Show project is finished, the muddy charm of the event will remain. With CEO Paul Andrews stepping down next year, it’s vitally important to continue the organization’s legacy and character.
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“It’s going to be a new awakening, if you can get people in there — which I’m sure we will,” she said. “We’ll be able to experience Western heritage in a modern way, and educate people about it, because let’s face it: you’ve got to reach young people in different ways than we used to.”
Magness Blake is happy to use her position to donate, organize, and otherwise support nonprofit causes. But the 2025 Citizen of the West award is going not just to her, but to countless people who have helped in her efforts over the years, she said.
“It’s great recognition not just for what I do, but what I’m part of, because teamwork is what the West is really about,” she said. “Most people don’t do things for credit, they do it because they love it. … They don’t want any recognition, but are always there when you need them.”
The 46th Citizen of the West award dinner takes place Jan. 13, 2025. Proceeds support the National Western Scholarship Trust. For tickets, call Erika Schroeder at 303-299-5560 or email eschroeder@nationalwestern.com.