Off Duty

Former Police Horses Seek New Home

By Kathy Smith

They’ve served faithfully in the line of duty, but rather than being rewarded with a gold watch and a retirement party, these seven former employees of the San Diego Police Department have been placed on the auction block. And their sale has caught the attention of horse lovers from across the United States.

The horse-mounted patrol unit of the San Diego Police Department has been disbanded due to budget cuts, and the horses are to be auctioned off to save the police department a quarter-million dollars a year, to help meet a $179 million budget shortfall. The unit’s officers were reassigned to patrol, and by February 10, 2010, the horses, corrals and tack must be sold.

The unique skills and training of these horses makes them appealing to many different types of people, from children and first-time riders to seniors. They are used to crowds, traffic, fireworks, bullets, and everything in between, and having served as ambassadors for the police department, these horses are local celebrities in their own right. Sgt. Bret Righthouse, with the mounted enforcement group for 14 years, recalled how people would line up to take pictures with the horses.

“We are going to unfortunately put our men and our women in danger, all for the want of a few thousand dollars,” horse lover Linda Harris said.

On February 4^th, potential buyers viewed the horses in person for the first time. Some do not support the decision to sell the horses. One group was talking about putting together a consortium of people willing to donate the cash to keep the unit. Russ and Sharron Evans of Vista said the horses are county treasures and an important part of San Diego’s Western heritage that should be kept.

As of February 5^th, the highest bid was $10,200 for Junior, described as a 5-year-old brown Draft-cross gelding, standing 16.2 hands. The bids for the Draft-cross geldings15-year-old Trigger and 16-year-old Major, standing 16.2 and 16.3 hands respectively, were at $4150 each. The website www.publicsurplus.com indicates that horses cannot be ridden or handled prior to the sale, but a spokeman for the police department said that all buyers will be vetted to make sure they have the proper facilities and are capable of providing the horses with a good home. There was no indication that the horses could be vetted as well.