For more than 15 years, Harvest the police horse has been a popular sight in downtown Seattle. The towering Clydesdale/Quarter Horse mix, who stands taller than 17 hands, has patrolled the streets with officer Mark Wubbena since 2001, and he gathers new fans wherever he goes.

“Harvest is really popular,” Wubbena told local news station KING5. “I don’t know why it is. The face, the eyes. He’s so big, that’s what gets everybody.”

Harvest is a solidly built bay with a star and snip to accent his bright-eyed face. He loves wither scratches and reaches out with his front hooves when he’s groomed (“I don’t know why he does it. All I can figure is he needs to stretch,” says Wubbena.)

He’s made a lot of friends and fans downtown. Local business owners are so charmed by him that he received plenty of treats on his last day walking the beat. But walking the city streets isn’t an activity an aging horse can do forever, and so Harvest has retired from the force.

But the personable gelding will stay busy in his retirement.

Harvest recently relocated from the city to a 17-acre farm in the suburb of Redmond, Washington, where he’s the newest addition to Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center. Once he’s had some transition time, he’ll go to work assisting children and adults with disabilities. The quiet, personable nature that made him a popular police horse also make him a good candidate for equine-assisted therapy.

Another benefit to Harvest’s new retirement vocation? He’s been reunited with an old buddy from the force, a Paint gelding named Blaze who also made the switch from police work to therapeutic riding nearly five years ago.

As for Officer Wubbena, after 16 years patrolling Seattle with Harvest, he says, “It’s been a great ride.”

Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer based in Lexington, Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com

The post From Police Horse to Therapy Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Meet Sammy and Gunner, the newest deputies at the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office in Eastern North Carolina.

The two Miniature Horses are therapy horses from Rocking Horse Ranch, a therapeutic riding program in Greenville. Their new assignment is with a program called Building Bridges, which is a collaborative effort between the ranch, the sheriff’s office, and East Carolina University.

Building Bridges is a service offered to trauma victims and witnesses to traumatic events. Participants in the program will have the opportunity to get out of the city, visit the ranch, and spend time with the horses. The intent is to help them heal while building trust with officers from the sheriff’s office.

Researchers from ECU will study the program to gather information about what effect time with the Minis does for trauma victims.

“The great thing about working with Miniature Horses is that it is kidn of ground breaking,” Dr. Leigh Atherton, a professor at ECU, told WITN. “There is not that much research looking at Mini Horses and their use in a therapeutic way, especially in the way that we are looking at using it for this project.”

The partnership is already popular with the sheriff’s office. Last week, Gunner and Sammy had an official swearing-in ceremony at the Pitt County courthouse. They even wore official uniforms, originally designed for normal-sized humans but altered to be worn by Mini Horses. The trained therapy animals didn’t seem to mind the new threads.

Watch footage from the swearing-in ceremony here.

Find out more about Gunner, Sammy, and Rocking Horse Ranch at www.rhrnc.com

Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer based in Lexington, Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com

The post Mini Horses Sworn in as Deputies in North Carolina appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.