Her Majesty’s police horses get royal treatment in France
BRANTE, France — After years of pounding the pavement in the United Kingdom, four-legged veterans of the country’s fight against crime are hoofing it across the Channel to kick back under the sun in southwest France.
The rolling green hills of the Dordogne region are home to 22 retired police horses, which are getting their second wind in a sanctuary run by former Scotland Yard officer Roland Phillips.
In keeping with British police tradition, the officers used horses rather than tear gas or water cannon, to disperse crowds.
“The last line of defense is the horse,” Phillips said.
Her Majesty’s police force employs dozens of horses, some of which have become famous on social media.
But no provision is made for those that are no longer up to the job, who risk being euthanized if no one offers a home.
Phillips, 60, a former police inspector, grew up at a sanctuary for retired and abused horses in southern England.
A year after joining thousands of British pensioners who have made their home in Dordogne, he and his wife Alison began taking in equine retirees in 2010.
His most recent acquisition is Ranger, a 9-year-old with a chocolate brown coat and jetblack mane put out to pasture after the Upton Park riot.
Ranger has severe arthritis, which Phillips said was brought on early by having firecrackers and other projectiles lobbed at him.
On one occasion, a demonstrator sought to spook him by shining a laser into his eyes.
“Those horses have been through a very tough time indeed,” the graying former inspector said as he stroked the horse’s nose.
One of the youngest there, 5-year-old Bella, was abandoned for failing to inherit her palomino father’s gold coat.
With horses often living into their late 20s, Bella can look forward to many years of basking in the sun.