2015 Alfie: Sad farewell to a very special horse

Our lovely Alfie of the Met Police has been put to sleep after suffering a catastrophic fracture to his leg. Alfie was an absolute sweetie and we so wished him a long, long retirement but it wasn’t to be. Here is what his former rider; Sergeant Jon Taylor wanted to say about this very special horse:

“On the 9 December 2010 a wave of disorder broke against the shores of Parliament Square as rioters infiltrated a large demonstration. Officers and horses from the Metropolitan & City of London mounted branches provided crucial support to over stretched foot duty officers in hour after hour of sustained violence including the use of petrol bombs, flares, paint bombs and scaffolding poles. In the front wave of the most intense and ferocious attack on the police was police horse Alfie. Covered in green paint and shoulder to shoulder with other horses in his serial, the 17hh chestnut gelding provided succour and gave courage to the horses and officers deployed with him throughout the day. Always in the forefront of mounted branch tactics to disperse the rioters. From a sunny early afternoon right up until shadows caused by the numerous fires danced on the Portland stone of the government buildings Alfie was a leading horse.

Those of us privileged enough to have known Alfie were not surprised by this. Alfie who spent much of his service based in central Westminster has been at the sharp end of some of the most serious public disorder in Central London for well over a decade and has been in the front lines at large scale fights at football matches and numerous demonstrations that have spilled over into violence and crime.