Lancashire's oldest police horse who served at London Olympics retires after 13 years
Lancashire police will say goodbye to a very special member of the team today.
Darwen the 21-year-old police horse is heading off to the Horse Trust in Buckinghamshire to enjoy his twilight years after spending an impressive 13 years on the force.
During his long career, Darwen, a Dutch Warmblood, served at the London Olympics and all of Lancashire’s high-profile football matches, as well as working at marches and carnivals.
Sgt Adam Pearson, one of Darwen’s riders, said: “Darwen has been an utterly wonderful colleague - hard-working, good in all situations and brilliantly dependable.
“He will go out on his own and isn’t really fazed by large crowds. Because of his reliability he has worked all the major football matches in Lancashire, including a particularly volatile match in 2014 between Blackburn and Leeds. He faced down 400 angry fans, which was quite something!
“We’re all going to be so sad to see him go and it’s genuinely been an honour to work with him. However, he has had a long career with us here at Lancashire Police, and if anyone deserves a good rest now it’s Darwen.”