December 13, 2018
The
stables won’t be the same without the “Big Guy”.
Standing
at 16.1 hands (5 feet, 5 inches tall), Rio, a brown-colored thoroughbred
cross and natural-born leader of the Richmond Police Department Mounted Unit
horses, is retiring.
The
Department will celebrate Rio’s service to Richmond with a brief ceremony
following the Blessing of the Animals which takes place noon on
Friday, December 14, at the Morgan Fountain in Shockoe Slip. The blessing
event is produced by the Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad. The
Department’s Mounted and K-9 units will participate. The public is invited to
bring their leashed or caged pets to the event.
“We
tend to forget the tremendous impact working animals provide to the safety of a
city,” said Mounted Sergeant Jeremy Nierman. “This is a great event because it
is important to acknowledge the vital assistance the horses and K-9s provide to
Richmond – and no horse has done a more remarkable job than Rio.”
Normally
a horse with the Department’s Mounted Unit provides eight to 10 years of
service. Rio has been with the unit for over 12 years and has been a leader
ever since his arrival from a farm in Amelia County when Rio was six years old.
“His
calming presence has been a benefit to the other horses in the barn and in the
field,” said Sergeant Nierman, “He is especially reassuring to new horses when
they arrive. Rio can be a bit of a jerk to a rider at first…but once you bond
with him there is no better mount with which to ride. I consider him family and
will miss seeing him every day.”
