I S S U E 2

T ISN'T EASY being a police horse in New York City. Job hazards abound, but there is no workers' compensation. Punch a police officer in New York City and you'll probably get a tough sentence for assault. But punch a police horse, and you might not do any time.

That was the case for one New Jersey electrician. James Hornacek, 35, was sentenced on Jan. 18, 2000, to four days of community service for punching a police horse in the nose during a 1998 construction workers' protest in Manhattan.

Hornacek, who was charged with attempting to injure a police animal, was convicted on Sept. 22, 1999, and could have spent as many as 90 days in jail.

Justice Ruth Pickholz instead handed down four days of community service as a penalty.

Hornacek, who has always maintained
his innocence, is appealing the ruling. He says he was frightened by the advancing horse and was just trying to push it away.

Mounted police officer Ron Savarese, who knows the danger of provoking a horse, feels the sentence is fair.

"He had to get something," says Savarese. "But you don't want to kill the guy. You've got to think about both sides of the coin. His wife is probably mortified."

Savarese pointed out that if the horse had bucked after being punched, the officer riding it could have been thrown off.

"That would be reckless endangerment," says Savarese. "How many people are going to get hurt when a horse is loose and kicking and bucking?"

Officer Reilly shows Cannon's pearly whites.

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Out
to
Pasture

Two retired police horses grazing in the meadows of a farm near Ottisville, NY. Photo: Frank McGowan

ORSES SERVE in the Mounted Unit for an average of 10 years, although some horses have served as long as 18 years.

There are three ways a horse can be retired:

1) adoption by the assigned rider
2) adoption by a civilian
3) delivery to a retirement farm

The most common form of retirement is by delivery to a retirement farm near Ottisville, New York. Horses retired here receive regular monitoring of their health to ensure their proper care.

The retirement program is complex, and the recipient of the horse must agree to special criteria set out by the Mounted Unit and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.