Rest In Peace, Darwen

Today we sadly announce the loss of Darwen, former Lancashire police horse and another of our wonderful sponsor residents at the age of 24.

Beautiful dark bay Dutch warmblood Darwen joined Lancashire Mounted Branch in 2007 as a 7-year-old who spent an epic 13 years serving the Constabulary. A steady police horse, Darwen was not fazed by large crowds or volatile environments during his work and due to this reliability, he attended all of Lancashire’s high profile football matches, including an unpredictable game between Blackburn and Leeds in 2014 where Darwen was in the thick of the unrest. Not only did he work within his community in Lancashire, Darwen travelled the country to provide mutual aid for many events, such as European football matches and political demonstrations in Manchester and the London Olympics back in 2012. He has also participated in numerous ceremonial occasions attended by Lancashire Mounted Branch over the years, including the Lancaster Shield Hanging, Remembrance Sunday parades and several funerals.

Not only was he steadfast in the line of duty, Darwen was also a very agile horse who was used for troop drills, jumping and helped many riders complete their initial course and continuous ridden training within the mounted branch. When ridden in the school however, Darwen was known to see ‘ghosts’ and dart away from the edges, keeping his riders on their toes! Despite this, officers had many fond memories of Darwen, especially those who learnt to ride on him and he was a massive loss to the branch after his 13 years of service.

Retiring to The Horse Trust amid the global pandemic, Darwen joined us as soon as movements around the country were reinstated at the age of 20 due to developing lameness that made him no longer suitable for duty. As always, he was warmly welcomed here in the Chilterns to live out the rest of his days in comfort. Whilst Darwen was trustworthy and calm within his work, once untacked, he could be aloof and needed to build trust with people before allowing them to stroke him and this did not change within his retirement. A very particular boy, Darwen could be quite opinionated when having his rug put on and off and he stipulated that his feed bucket needed to be held for him during breakfast, otherwise he would spill it onto the floor! His oodles of personality made him a favourite of many and was part of the reason he was chosen to be one of our sponsor residents.

Darwen had suffered with sarcoids, a type of skin tumour, throughout his life and this was treated both within his career at Lancashire Mounted Branch and in his retirement with us. Treatment of this condition can never fully resolve the tumours, they will continue to reoccur and unfortunately, Darwen’s condition worsened of late. With winter coming, his ongoing quality of life was at risk and therefore, to prevent Darwen suffering he was put to sleep peacefully. We would like to thank all who have followed him in his retirement, especially his kind sponsors and he will be truly missed within our herd. Rest in peace, Darwen HTx