‘Much-adored’ retired police horse who served at London 2012 put down

A “much-adored” retired police horse who served at the London 2012 Olympics has been put down aged 17.

Nesbitt, a 17.2hh Irish sports horse, served with the South Wales Police mounted section before retiring to Redwings’ Oxhill centre in Warwickshire in 2013 after being diagnosed with degenerative joint disease.

A spokesman for the charity said it had worked closely with South Wales Police on a number of welfare cases and was approached by the force about the gelding’s retirement.

“With Nesbitt requiring ongoing special care, they reached out to us for help. We, of course, could not resist giving this special boy a well-deserved new home,” he said.

“During his time in the police Nesbitt attended many high profile events, including playing a role in crowd management at the London 2012 Olympics.”

The spokesman said Nesbitt soon settled into life at the charity where he loved greeting visitors and became best friends with a part-bred Shire called Jay.

“Nesbitt was delightful to handle and a pleasure to be around, not to mention impeccably behaved under saddle, hence his selection to work at the London Olympics in 2012,” he said.

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“One of his former companions at South Wales Police, Sullivan, retired to us a year later too so they were reunited.”

The spokesman said Nesbitt had been recently suffering with severe lameness and with vets no longer able to keep him comfortable, the “heartbreaking” decision was made to put him down on Tuesday (10 December).

“We said a sad goodbye to the much-adored Nesbitt. He was loved by his carers and visitors alike, and we know his loss will be felt by all at Redwings and his many fans.”

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