Bold &
out there wearing a western saddle. We heard about a Hanoverian that was sold as a bucking horse. At one point, ten Lipizzans were donated to the Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment to serve as caisson horses, breaking the tradition of employing only black horses to pull a wagon and be the riderless horse in military and state funerals. For a while, a Warmblood worked at a San Francisco Bay area race track as a pony horse. Though the numbers are far from overwhelming, there
H
are some Warmbloods and crossbreds doing something other than what they are bred for. We found five different sport horses in four extraordinary careers.
THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE
SPIRIT’S DAY BEGAN WITH AWALK through a Washington, D.C. parkland, a hack down the bike path past bikes and strollers, and eventually a move into Georgetown. Next he traveled towards the National Zoo and finally into his stall at the U.S. Park Police stable. On any given day Spirit might be ridden downtown,
through the National Mall, past the Washington Monument and in front of the White House. Last year he attended his first Fourth of July celebration. He wasn’t a fan of the initial boom from the fireworks, but the crowds were not a problem for him. Spirit (Ideal Inspiration) was an ideal candidate for the
U.S. Park Police, which is part of the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior. His prior petite owner was not comfortable as the gray gelding grew to 16.3 hands and his movement became bigger and loftier. He went up for sale, but a hoof problem delayed his training for nearly a year and then the economy tanked. On the suggestion of his dressage trainer, he was donated to the park service. Officer Mariea Crowers, the head trainer for the U.S. Park Police, has had no problem with his size or floaty trot.
Photo at right and at top with fireworks: Mariea Crowers and Spirit working in Washington D.C. Photos courtesy Mariea Crowers
Warmbloods Today 21
orses of European heritage are brilliant at the sport horse disciplines, but what about other jobs? We dug around to see if our Warmbloods were
Careers Unusual Warmbloods
for
by Patti Schofler
In fact, along with his stable mate, a Thoroughbred named Cole, he is her favorite of the 43 horses in service and she plans to take him with her when she retires in five years. For over a year, the stout gray Oldenburg has had the
dual role of patrol horse and school horse. He has the good mind to go into the trenches of police work but he also serves as a lunging horse for the law enforcement officers who participate in the ten week riding program held at Edgewater Stables, the U.S. Park Police Horse Mounted Training Center. “He is my go to horse for the canter. He is so kind and
agreeable,” says Mariea, who points out that most officers are there because they wanted to be police officers, not because they wanted to ride horses. The mounted unit was established in 1934 and is one
of America’s oldest police equestrian organizations in the United States. Horse mounted patrols are assigned to federal parks in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco. The U.S. Park Service offers equestrian training for any law enforcement agency, not just park service officers. The horses are trained as public relations and crowd
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