G Silk Boy

We have lost a legacy. The incredible Amber Silk’s last son standing at stud in the U.S. has died. But beyond his royal pedigree, G Silk Boy (*Menes/Amber Silk) had a greater story to tell, a more important message to leave with us.

In one short 11-month period, G Silk Boy was named Scottsdale Reserve Champion, Regional Top Five, U.S. and Canadian Top Ten as a Western Pleasure Junior Horse, and Reserve Champion Stallion the only time he was entered in a halter class, accolades that other horses never win, or take years to accomplish. And then he came home to breed the few mares whose owners happened to hear about him with no advertising, no stallion cards, no fanfare. In his entire life, he only bred four mares from outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky. But G Silk Boy’s get have made history.

From his very first foal crop of only three foals, he sired both a colt who was named Supreme Halter Champion twice as a yearling, and a mare who produced a colt who was named Supreme Halter Champion as a yearling in his very first show. His second foal crop of three were all show winners. G Silk Boy’s foals are as talented as he, competing in Hunter Pleasure, Hunter Hack, Ladies Sidesaddle, Dressage, and more recently in Sport Horse classes. They have earned Regional and National titles in Western Pleasure, Halter, Trail, and Endurance Riding.

He was indeed a remarkable athlete who could pass on his talents, and a pretty stallion that could sire exotic foals. But his personality was his most endearing trait. He played with the hanging ball in his stall and bounced it off the wall just for entertainment. He roared like a bear if he thought we were not paying him enough attention. He was the most intelligent horse I have ever known, and he outsmarted nearly everyone with whom he came in contact. Even during breeding, he never tried to mount a mare until we gave him permission.

But when you earned his trust, he was your friend for life. I had never owned a stallion before G Silk Boy, and never anticipated having him at the farm. But he never got the respect he deserved so we brought him home, and G Silk Boy taught us that handling a good stallion wasn’t bad at all. My husband Rick had never handled a horse before meeting G Silk Boy, but he became his greatest friend, caretaker, and admirer and was with him when G Silk Boy took his final breath.

Other than the mundane name his Gucci heritage left him, G Silk Boy’s biggest handicap was that we were not wealthy enough to promote him or his foals the way they should have been, or to afford the newest medical intervention for laminitis until it was too late to save him. But the tiny bit the world saw of him was phenomenal.

We heard your message, Silk. We know that just because a horse is widely promoted or shown does not mean he is great. And just because a horse is not widely promoted or shown does not mean he is not. We know you were one of the great ones. We will sorely miss you, Silk, and we are grieving.