Patches the Pony-Dealing with the Death of an Equine Friend

This morning we said good-bye to an old friend. It was an absolutely beautiful morning and my friend and neighbor Cheryl got up early in anticipation of the vet’s arrival at 7:00 am. When I arrived at her place 6:30, Cheryl had Patches nicely groomed and was walking her out in the field to let Patches nibble on her favorite morsels.

As we wandered through the field, going wherever Patches led us, we chatted about the hundreds of kids Patches had taught to ride when Cheryl had her riding lesson business. We watched as Patches bit off, chewed up and spit out the grass as she nibbled while we walked. We listened and remarked at the squeaking sound of her gums rubbing together, hopelessly trying to masticate the forage.

At nearly 40 years old, Patches’ grinding teeth were long gone and Cheryl was past the point of keeping her going on Senior feed and bran mashes, which she had recently been turning up her nose at. Cheryl tried any and all foods and strategies she could think of to keep the pony eating and healthy for as long as possible. The little pony would like some for a bit, then go on a hunger strike, then like something for a while again, then stop eating again. It was getting difficult to see the pony slowly starving to death though she thought she was eating with the rest of the herd. Patches had such a precious place at Cheryl's farm--she was allowed to roam most anywhere on the property and was often the first greeter when you pulled down the driveway. The pony was the topic of discussion many times--was it time? Was she healthy? Cheryl worried and wanted to make sure she was doing the right thing--whether that was making a choice to let go or trying some new feeding ritual and recipe.

Patches was a lucky pony. Even though she worked for a living over several decades as a lesson pony, she was loved by many children and most certainly her photo adorns many refrigerators and scrap books. She was also fortunate to have an owner that gave her a comfortable retirement and one who could afford the expensive feed required to keep an old horse going.

An issue that I’ve seen coming for some time revolves around the incredible strides we humans have made to keep old horses alive long past the time they lose their teeth and would naturally die. Is this all the extra treatment for the horses or the humans? Sometimes I drive past pastures and see an old horse, nothing but a bag of bones, and wonder when and if someone will turn the owner into the animal control for neglect, even though his herd mates are fat, happy and healthy and chances are good the horse is just old, not neglected. Just because we have the ability to keep old horses alive longer, does that mean we have to? And what if the owner cannot afford the $100+ a month it would cost to sustain an aging horse, what then? Is that considered neglect to let nature take its course? Just questions to throw at the moon....

When I was a kid, the life span of a horse was considered to be 25 years and many didn’t make it that far. But now it is common to see horses in their 30s and even 40s. Don’t get me wrong, I think the advancement in health care and nutrition that has led to this longer life span is a wonderful thing and many of these horses remain useful for many more years than they would’ve back then. But I also think it is okay to let horses go when they get too old to chew grass or hay.

We have the option of humanely ending a horse’s life when it is time, but sometimes that decision is a tough one to make--whether it is age, sickness or lameness that prompts the question. Have you struggled with this decision before? When do you know it’s time?

Cheryl made the right decision to let Patches go before she got so weak she couldn’t stand or before some crises forced an emergency call to the vet in the middle of the night and a stressful euthanization. Cheryl wanted a calm and dignified death for Patches and that she got.

Cheryl said her good-byes at the barn and as the vet and I walked Patches toward her final resting place, she picked up her head and actually started trotting. Maybe she was ready to go or perhaps she was just excited to be headed toward a new place on the farm.

Patches went quickly and quietly with hardly a twitch. She was ready to go and did not fight it a bit. We laid her to rest wrapped in a warm blanket and laying in a deep bed of shavings, with a bag of carrots sprinkled on top to keep her busy on her way to horse heaven.

We’ll miss you Patches, but we know that you are in a better place.

Julie

For training tips from Julie, visit the Training Library at http://juliegoodnight.com/q&a.php and check out her online store--full of training tools and DVDs-- at http://juliegoodnight.com/products.html

Police Horse Update

Thanks in part to all the comments they have received from many of you and others in Hawaii and beyond, the Honolulu Police Department has indicated that the horses will all be kept together and will most likely be sent to the retirement home on the Big Island. It is not official yet, since they still have to work through all the bureaucratic channels, but they have made statements that indicate that is what will happen. When we get an official word, we’ll be sure to let you know. Here's the original post and your many comments: http://juliegoodnightontheroad.blogspot.com/2009/06/police-horses-face-uncertain-future.html

On a sad note, someone tweeted to me last week that the Boston Mounted Police unit was disbanded and the horses were sent to the NYPD to go on patrol there. I am sorry for those officers that lost their partners and whose hard work had to end so abruptly. But I am glad the horses will continue their police work as long as they are able.

Hopefully the NYPD Mounted Unit is strong and not being threatened by budget cuts. If any of you have more information than the “word of mouth” info I’ve gotten on Honolulu, Boston and NYPD, be sure to let me know.

Thanks for all your support of horses and our law enforcement officers.

Julie

Photo: Sgt Deborah Wilson has headed up the Honolulu unit the past 10 years and who now is working to care for the horses and insure their future.

The Great Escape

This week starts all-new episodes of Horse Master, which were filmed at a beautiful location in the South Carolina “Low Country,” where they filmed Forest Gump. Although we were filming in April, in keeping with all of our shoots so far, it was unseasonably cold and windy, so my illusions of evening walks on the beach unfortunately never became a reality.

This first episode is about a lovely young warmblood—I think he was Anglo-Trakhener—who had learned the dirty habit of ripping his nose away and running off whenever he wanted. Fortunately most horses never figure out that if they can get their body positioned directly away from you that there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop them, but “Cosmo” had figured this out. Have you ever had a horse that did this?

When a horse learns this trick, you’ve got a big problem and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to unlearn it—he’ll know this trick forever. But you can dissuade him by making him very uncomfortable when he attempts to get into position, but sometimes this takes a considerable amount of pressure—more pressure than many people are with able or willing to dish out. Depending on how much he has been rewarded for this bad behavior in the past and how often he has experienced success with this tactic, it may take a little pressure or a lot, but you always have to find the amount of pressure that motivates a horse to change. This is a very fundamental concept in training horses—or any animals (including people) for that matter.

Some of you may remember the trailer loading episode that aired recently. That horse had also learned this dirty trick (unbeknownst to us until we started filming). I had to put a chain on his nose to get better control of him and since this problem wasn’t directly related to trailer loading, I did a little schooling off-camera so that we could go on with the trailer loading. Once he realized he was not going to be able to get away from me, and that it would be very unpleasant for him if he tried, he totally gave it up and in short order he was walking right in the trailer.

In “The Great Escape,” which is airing for the first time this week, Cosmo turned and ran off when the owner longed him, simply because he didn’t want to do that and didn’t think he had to do anything he didn’t want to. As a 4 y/o, he was just being started under saddle and hadn’t really learned a work ethic yet (an important argument for not waiting TOO long to start a horse). On top of that, raised by his owners, he was quite spoiled and thought he pretty much ruled the roost. This is one reason why I probably wouldn’t buy a horse that had been raised by amateurs—chances are, they’ve been spoiled. And while I can certainly un-spoil them (pretty quickly actually), I’d prefer a horse that has been taught good manners from the beginning (or not handled at all) and a horse that has not LEARNED and had success with bad behaviors.

The funny thing is that Erika, Cosmo’s owner, is actually a good and very accomplished rider and her other horses are well-mannered and respectful of her (but she did not raise them). But for some reason, she had abdicated her authority to Cosmo and he was taking full advantage of her. Not because he is a mean or wicked horse—quite the opposite in fact—but because when there is a void of leadership, the horse will always take over.

I think Erika turned a new leaf with Cosmo after our two days together. All she needed to do was step up to the plate and show some leadership to the horse and he instantly responded.

Horses are amazing that way—if we can change the person, the horse almost always responds. Have you ever seen someone (or experienced for yourself) a situation where the human is abdicating authority to the horse? Usually a little assertiveness training is in order, and a better understanding of how horses view leadership and how dominance is created. Sometimes our human brain is our worst enemy. But if you can get the human to act like a leader, there are usually instant results. Some people come by leadership and authority naturally, others have to work it. Where do you fall into that picture?

As for the dirty trick of ripping the nose away and running off, the main prevention is to be proactive and not let him turn his nose to begin with. In fact, I’d make a horse with this habit always carry his nose slightly turned toward me, whether I was leading or longeing or doing anything else. Of course, going back and doing some groundwork with Cosmo and teaching him good ground manners would be a good start. Erika left the shoot with a copy of my video on ground manners, Lead Line Leadership, and I know she and Cosmo are on the right track now.

Enjoy the ride!

Julie

For training tips from Julie, visit the Training Library at http://juliegoodnight.com/q&a.php and check out her online store--full of training tools and DVDs--at http://juliegoodnight.com/products.html

The Gaited Horse Craze

Well, I am about to take the plunge and buy my first gaited horse. It’s not for me personally, but a horse for my sales program. I am strictly a regularly-gaited type horse person although I totally get the current popularity to this type of horse. For myself, I prefer the trot and canter and the athleticism that those gaits bring. But I totally get the appeal of gaited horses.

Between the influence of the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) on the horse industry and the number of new riders coming into the sport (most of whom are in that age bracket), it’s no wonder the gaited horses have gotten so popular. It’s sort of like pushing the ‘easy button’. Have you tried a gaited horse? Are you sold on them or do you miss the trot?

I’ve always had a lot of requests for gaited horses in my horse sales program and the only reason I haven’t bought one before now is that it is very hard to find mature, well-trained, seasoned horses of that type that are for sale. There’s lots of youngsters on the market and the older gaited horses I found don’t meet my high standards for very broke, mannered horses. It’s getting increasingly harder to find good quarter horses in that category too, but they are much more prevalent than the gaited breeds, especially out here in the west.

Another problem with the gaited breeds is that just because a horse is bred and registered as a gaited horse, does not mean that he gaits well or gaits naturally. What many buyers of gaited horses are disappointed to discover is that a lot of gaited horses require the assistance of the rider to maintain their gait properly. Well, if you’re buying a gaited horse because you’re a beginner and  you want it to be easy, this presents a problem. If the rider has the skill to assist the horse in its gaits, she’d probably be just fine riding a regularly gaited horse.

Finally I’ve found a cute little double registered TN Walker/Mountain Horse that meets my criteria for training and temperament. He is a 14 y/o black and white gelding, cute as a button, shown extensively and successfully by a young girl and trail ridden heavily over the past five years. He’s a been-there-done-that broke horse that anyone can ride and he’ll go over, under or through anything you point him at. He’s a great size too, at 14 hands. As I’ve said before, the older I get, the smaller I want my horses to be and this is a perfect size for a trail horse. I am eager to get him here, but it’ll be a few weeks before I can get him on a van.

What’s your take on gaited horses?

Enjoy the ride,

Julie

For training tips from Julie, visit the Training Library at http://juliegoodnight.com/q&a.php and check out her online store--full of training tools and DVDs-- at http://juliegoodnight.com/products.html

Bitting Experiment, Part 2

Recently someone sent me an email asking about their horse’s training issues and she said, “I’ve had has teeth floated and his mouth checked by a vet, we even changed his bit but he’s still throwing his head. I think it’s just that he likes to throw his head.” Sure, that’s it—he likes doing that. I hear people say stuff like this all the time as if a horse’s anxious behavior can be explained by something as simple as, he just likes doing that.

If a horse is throwing his head, rooting the reins, star-gazing, opening his mouth or sticking his tongue out, there is a pretty simple explanation but it has nothing to do with him liking to do that. Once you have ruled out a physical/medical problem (which is always the first question) then you have to look at what is making the horse uncomfortable in his mouth—is it the rider or the bit or, more likely, both.

When horses are uncomfortable with the bit, it is usually a result of too much pressure on their tongues and in all of the behaviors listed above, the horse is simply trying to relieve the pressure from his tongue. Often, people think they are doing their horse a favor by putting the horse in a mild bit, like a basic snaffle, when in fact, they are putting maximum pressure on the tongue.

For our bitting experiment, our two subjects are Cari and Lakota. Cari is an experienced rider and Lakota is well trained but through the years of being used as a school horse and a therapeutic riding horse, he has become hollowed out and travels with his neck stiff and his head up too high. If you saw the first installment, you saw the before footage and the dramatic improvement he made when we switched him to the Myler Combination bit. This particular bit uses nose, chin, and poll pressure and minimizes the pressure on the tongue. Lakota was instantly better. This bit is somewhat of a miracle-maker and helps all sorts of horses relax and get comfortable and helps riders develop a better feel.

The next step in this bitting experiment is to use the Goodnight bitting system to recondition Lakota in a rounded frame, teaching him to relax his neck, drop his head and use his back and hindquarters more from a specific signal from the bit. For this, we put Lakota in my favorite bit, the Myler 33 mouthpiece on an egg-butt. This is the bit I use on my horse (both in the egg-butt if I want to ride 2-handed and with shanks if I am riding one-handed or working cattle) and it gives the maximum amount of tongue relief with the shape of the mouthpiece. You can see it briefly in the video.

Cari told me she was a little intimidated by using a new bitting system (she was on her own—I wasn’t there to help her) but was pleasantly surprised that it was not too complicated. The beauty of this system is that it teaches the horse to search for the release, which comes the instant he breaks at the poll and rounds his back. He learns self-carriage—meaning he holds himself in the frame, not leaning on the bit; so in this system he learns lightness too, while he conditions and strengthens his top line. The best feature of all about this bitting system is that the rider can mimic the feeling the horse gets from the bitting device once she is riding.

In this video, Lakota is in the bitting system for the first time and you can see him searching for where the release is. Watch for the moment when you see him totally round up and get very fluid in his body, using his hind end well and moving with a strong cadence—it’s beautiful! It’ll probably take a few more works before Lakota holds this type of frame for the whole session. I’d like to see Cari work Lakota 2-3 times a weeks in the bitting system for a few weeks and then give us another peak at his progress.

BTW- this process is thoroughly explained in my newest video, Bit Basics. In this video I work with a young filly that’s never had a bit in her mouth as well as an older rope horse who’s had his head tied down and is terribly confused about how to respond to bit pressure. Both horses make excellent progress and you can see the benefit of using this type of bitting system.

Until next time,

Julie

For training tips from Julie, visit the Training Library at http://juliegoodnight.com/q&a.php and check out her online store--full of training tools and DVDs-- at http://juliegoodnight.com/products.html

Training Priorities

Horses are not good multi-taskers. They can really only focus on one thing at a time. That’s why you can’t pull on a cow horse all the time and expect him to hook onto the cow. If you’re pulling on his mouth, he’s thinking about that and he cannot possibly be thinking about the cow and what it’s doing and how he should move with him. Do you know what I am talking about? I see this kind of confusion in horses all the time, with or without cows in the picture.

Actually, as I age (and therefore get smarter), I have discovered that multi-tasking is not such a great thing for me either. When I had my office in my house, I was the queen of multi-tasking. Every time I was talking on the phone, I’d wander around my house starting projects. By the end of the day, I’d have about a dozen started and unfinished projects ranging from reorganizing cabinets to weeding the flower beds—and my house would be a wreck.

A few years ago, I moved my office out of the house to its own location nearby. At first I was at a loss not being able to check my email in the middle of the night, or work on the computer while Rich watched football or start working at dawn in my PJs. But it wasn’t long before I realized that the quality and quantity of my work was greatly improved when I went to the office and focused just on the task at hand, without all the distractions my home offered. And the quality of my home life improved too! Just ask Rich. Does multi-tasking work for you?

For horses, multi-tasking is pretty much an impossibility. Sometimes even a singular focus is difficult for them. One thing that I always talk about in clinics is that you can only train one thing at a time to a horse, so you have to know what your priorities are at that moment. For instance, if I am working on a prompt canter departure from the walk and my horse gives me a very good departure but takes the wrong lead, I cannot really correct him for taking the wrong lead without taking a chance that he thinks the correction is about the departure—maybe he shouldn’t have done that. Plus I have to take some responsibility for not setting him up well for the correct lead.

Here’s another example that always arises in clinics, during the ground work. We’ll be working on teaching the horse to walk beside you and behind you in a very specific place, so that he matches you step for step as you go and stop. We’ll correct the horses each time they step in front of the imaginary line that we have dictated and pretty soon, the horse starts watching you and thinking about where his proper place is and is no longer reliant on your holding him there. Then we’ll progress to the trot and at this point, lots of people will have trouble getting the horse to trot. Finally, the horse breaks into a trot, but the handler isn’t moving fast enough so that the horse ends up in front of the person; then the person turns around and shanks the horse for getting in front. That’s training two things at once (the trot departure and not getting in front) and the horse doesn’t know how to deal with that. Chances are, he learned that he was not supposed to trot at all. Have you ever made this kind of mistake in your training?

Horses learn by making associations. In other words, he makes an association between his actions and the release, reward or correction. It is only possible for him to make an association if the release/reward/correction comes within three seconds of the action—and the sooner in that three seconds, the more likely he is to make an association. The optimal time for the release or correction, according to research, is one half of one second. Wow. That’s good timing.

 Horses make incorrect associations all the time, like the ones mentioned above, and they make associations on their own that we never intended them to make, like if they pin their ears and bare their teeth at feed time, you will feed them. Or if they throw their head up, they get a momentary release of pressure from their mouths. Or if they buck when you ask them to canter, you’ll stop them.

The timing of the release is the essence of good training and whatever your horse is doing at the moment you release the pressure is what you are training him to do. Unfortunately, if you have to think about what the release or correction is or whether or not your horse did the right or wrong thing, you’ve already missed the optimal time for the release or correction and you risk the horse making the wrong association.

When I was a kid and got in trouble, my mother would send me to my room to wait until my father got home, so that he could dole out the punishment. The wait was agonizingly more painful than the spanking I would get when he finally arrived—I didn’t have any trouble at all making the association between my bad actions and my father’s punishment that came hours later. But horses aren’t like that.

You should always know what your training priority is as you are teaching your horse something new or working on improving an existing skill and focus on that. Don’t change priorities in the middle of an exercise. The only thing that trumps your training priority is obedience. When a horse becomes disobedient, you should immediately change your priority and work on that—you cannot teach something new to him anyway, if he is disobeying you or not listening.

Even if you are a good multi-tasker, remember that your horse isn’t. Try to focus on one thing at a time in your training sessions, starting with the most simple thing and moving toward the complex. Keep it simple. Little by little, you’ll get there.

Enjoy the ride,

Julie

For training tips from Julie, visit the Training Library at http://juliegoodnight.com/q&a.php and check out her online store--full of training tools and DVDs-- at http://juliegoodnight.com/products.html

Five Pound Challenge Update

It’s been a little over a month since we started the five pound challenge and I have been pleased with all the people who have joined in and/or made comments! Some of you still have a week or two to go on your personal challenge, but I look forward to hearing how you’ve done. Make sure to comment below!

I am pleased to say that I met my first five pound goal and am one pound into the second five-pound challenge. Let me know if you're up for another challenge! Keep going with us. It’s been a lot easier to have friends involved and to help cheer each other on. Even my husband has signed onto the challenge, so that has made it a little easier when faced with temptations at home.

Rich and I are on our way to a spa resort in Boulder for the next few days and I intend to collect my reward for the first five pounds while there. I also plan to do two-fers in my workout routine while at the spa. Rich has business meetings all day while we are there, so that will leave me free to workout and get some rest. After a grueling eight weeks on the road, I need a little break.

I’ve noticed that the loss of weight becomes a reward and a motivation in and of itself. With five pounds gone, I see a difference when I look in the mirror after stepping out of the shower. And my jeans are a little more comfortable. It becomes an investment that I want to protect and I want the number to grow—not stay flat. I know there will be the inevitable back-slide, but it seems like it’s easier to lose the weight again.

Thank you also for all your support with Honolulu police horses. We are continuing to increase the awareness of the plight of these horses and are very hopeful that the city of Honolulu will make the right decision and let these horses go to the retirement home that they deserve. Click here to read that blog entry>>

I look forward to reading your comments on the five pound challenge and hearing how you’ve done—for better or for worse!

Julie

Police Horses Face an Uncertain Future

I’ve had the great privilege in my career to work, on several occasions, with police officers from the Honolulu Mounted Police Department. I have helped to train their officers to ride better and also to train their horses to be more responsive so that they can both do their jobs to the best of their ability. It was always an unusual experience for me, but highly enjoyable, and quite different from any other training I’ve ever done.

The officers had a level of dedication and determination unlike any other riders I’ve trained. Of course they did—they were not in the clinic for fun or personal fulfillment, in fact that was the last thing on their minds. They were very serious and focused on improving their riding and their horse’s training so that they could do their very important job better. And at the back of each officer’s mind is always the fact that their lives may be dependent on how well they ride and how well their horse responds to their requests.

For most of us, owning and riding horses is about fun; but not so with police officers. They take their job very seriously and they constantly train and drill to get better and better. The horses and police officers do crowd control—breaking up drunken brawls in parking lots after football games, keeping unruly protesters in line at demonstrations, patrolling the beaches, intervening in gang wars and the drug trade. In addition to this serious and dangerous work, the mounted unit also does ceremonial work—presiding over the funerals of slain officers, and community service—bringing the horses into the elementary schools with their anti-drug program. The officers and especially their horses are highly respected and loved by the community.

So you can imagine how stunned I was to discover that the current police chief had decided to disband the mounted unit. After years of hard work and dedication, this mounted unit had developed highly trained officers and horses and had made a significant impact on the community. I suppose that is the prerogative of the chief and I am sure he has found a way to justify it with budget cuts, but what I found most appalling was their initial intention to auction off the horses that have served the city and county of Honolulu for the last decade. This move was fuled by the city's finance department, which has tried to make the horses fit into their regulations for liquidating unwanted equipment and since no other department in the city wanted the horses, the regulations called for public auction.

Most of these horses are in the 18-19 year old range and have slaved hard each and every day to do the bidding of the HPD for the past nine years. Legally, in many jurisdictions, animals used in law enforcement are considered law enforcement officers—if you assault one, you’ll be charged with assault on a police officer. In Hawaii, it seems that these horses are considered property. Still, they've served their communities and had full careers.

Police horses are incredibly courageous and trusting—willing to walk into a 200 person drunken brawl—strictly on the assurance from his rider that it will be okay. They have been taught to trust their rider and walk into certain danger when asked. They have been hit, screamed at, had objects thrown at them by unruly citizens and have walked blindly and willingly into dangerous situations on the command of their officers. And now, if the HPS finance people have their way, these horses will wind up in uncertain homes with an undetermined future where, in their twilight years, after years of dedicated service and hard work, they’ll have to start all over in a new career and be left to an undetermined fate.

From what I've been told by my inside sources at the police department, many parties lust after these horses. The ropers want them because of their size and training, a trail ride operation wants them to carry tourists down the beach day after day, a therapeutic riding program—yet to be started-- thinks they can build a program with these horses, a group wants them to play polo on. These are not therapy, polo, roping or pleasure horses—they’re police horses; and there’s a big difference. They are finely trained and responsive and programmed for a totally different job. While anyone of these groups may be able to make these horses work for their goals, the main question is, don't these horses deserve a comfortable retirement and the security of knowing they’ll be taken good care of the rest of their days?

Believe it or not, a philanthropic citizen, with an impressive history of doing good deeds, has offered to take these horses to the Big Island of Hawaii and turn them out together on green pasture and take good care of them for the rest of their lives. She has an incredible track record of philanthropic work for humans and animals in the poorest countries. http://cdhinternational.org/ This will cost the HPD absolutely nothing; the HPD hasn't taken this offer, in spite of the numerous pleas from the police officers and the community. Apparently, the community outrage at the thought of auctioning these horses did make an impact so they agreed not to put them up for public auction but to take applications from people that want the horses instead. Perhaps that will mean there is a little accountability.

But almost all of the applications are from people that want these horses to advance their own personal agendas and in almost every case—except the philanthropist from the Big Island, the horse’s futures would be uncertain—they could end up anywhere with extended careers. And for what? A few thousand dollars maybe? Why not give these horses the dignified and secure retirement they deserve? Doesn’t the police department have an obligation to these horses?

My brother is a police officer, so I understand and highly respect the difficult and dangerous job that they do and I understand the political forces that can affect their abilities to do their jobs. I also understand how devastated these HPD officers are at the disbanding of the program they worked so hard to build and the ultimate insult that the HPD would turn its back on the four-footed partners who gave so much.

I’ve also had the pleasure of working with Disney World in their horse programs and discovered that the WDW company actually funds the retirement of its trail horses after only 5-7 years of packing guests around on trial rides. If a for-profit company can have this kind of sense of responsibility for horses used in recreation, why can’t the HPD? Should we expect less of a police department? It’s not like we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars here—and their retirement would be totally funded by a kind and generous donor. Is there something I’m missing?

It is my sincere hope that the HPD will recognize the value of these animals and the risk they face if their futures are not secured. I know the officers from the disbanded unit are working hard toward this goal and are losing sleep every night with their concern for these regal horses. I hope you will join me in supporting the safe retirement of these horses with your thoughts and prayers and if you want to make a comment on my blog, I’ll make sure all the comments are received by the HPD. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome. Check out the news video, too: http://it.truveo.com/HPD-Disbanding-Horse-Patrol-Unit/id/1302796689

Julie