‘Cheeky’ police horse renamed by local children
A ‘veteran’ police horse has been renamed Bullseye by school children in Manchester.
Previously known as Pie in the Sky (Pie), the blue roan piebald gelding joined Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) mounted unit last summer.
The maxi cob broke the mould when he joined GMP at the age of 14, as the oldest horse the force has recruited.
Pie was renamed by students from Lancasterian School to mark the launch of the unit’s new adoption scheme.
Through the initiative, schools across Manchester will be able to ‘adopt’ several of the GMP horses to help the children learn about what the force does in an interactive way.
The children were asked to choose a new name for Pie from a shortlist and Bullseye came out the winner.
“Keeping our age old tradition, all our horses are named after Charles Dickens characters,” GMP mounted officer Cassie Barratt told H&H.
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“Pie is no exception getting his official title of Bullseye after the charming dog owned by Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist, no doubt in part due to his beautiful wall eye.”
The 16.1hh gelding has quickly become a popular addition to the force.
“Considering his lovely character, true cob stamp and cheeky personality he’s proven to be one of the strongest new recruits we’ve had,” added Cassie.
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“We’re proud to release that Bullseye has also launched our new mounted unit adoption scheme. As of this month schools across Manchester are able to ‘adopt’ several of our wonderful police horses, so that we can engage with the children, allow them to learn all about what we do, visit the stables and in turn they receive a VIP visit to their school with their chosen adopted horse.
“To celebrate, students from the first school in this scheme, Lancasterian School Manchester, were asked to name ‘Pie’ from a shortlist, and Bullseye was a clear winner!”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.