Police horses Iceni and Sawyer retire to The Horse Trust
Two eighteen-year-old police horses, from opposite end of England are to live out their retirements together at The Horse Trust in Buckinghamshire.
Iceni, a 17.2hh Percheron x Irish Draught comes to the home of rest from his duties with Thames Valley Police, where he has attended royal weddings, football matches, music concerts, school and state visits and demonstrations.
His former rider Sergeant John Thurston said: “Iceni has been fantastic to ride and I will miss him but I am very grateful that The Horse Trust has taken him.”
And his new friend Sawyer has travelled from Greater Manchester Police, where his beat included all aspects of community work and he became a regular at European football matches.
Paul Jepson, chief executive of the Horse Trust, said: “Our Home of Rest is here for all working horses.
“To see two police horses, who have given so much to their communities and worked so hard, turned out to green pastures in anticipation of a long and healthy retirement, fulfils the traditional values of our founder Ann Lindo.
“In the words of Black Beauty, the inspiration behind the sanctuary, both will now know ‘I shall never be sold and so I have nothing to fear; and here my story ends’.”
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.