Kathleen gets a visit from her partner in crime

As a home of rest which specialises in providing respite and retirement to working horses, we understand that every horse that arrives to us has their own following of people that love and care about them. This may be fans, or in this case previous riders.

Kathleen, a striking 16.2hh bay mare served with the Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch for 9 years before retiring to The Horse Trust in June 2016. This mare was described as being like ‘Marmite’ because officers tended to either love or hate her due to her quirky character! Well Constable Lucy Hall certainly must be a lover of marmite, as she recently came to visit Kathleen in her retirement here at The Horse Trust.

Kathleen was Lucy’s mount for 3 years, where they tackled the streets of Great Scotland Yard.  Unfortunately Kathleen then developed behavioural changes and after many attempts at settling her into different roles within the Mounted Branch to restore her confidence, she was deemed unsuitable for operational duty and therefore was retired to us here at The Horse Trust. However this may be, that didn’t stop Lucy and Kathleen creating a great bond, and Lucy had to hold back the tears as best as she could when she officially retired her to The Horse Trust at our open day in June this year.

Lucy noted ‘It was amazing to see Kathleen looking so relaxed in such a beautiful setting, and I am so grateful that she has a home for life here where she can enjoy her retirement surrounded by other retired working horses.’

Kathleen’s field companions include the gorgeous grey Annabelle, who retired to us in May 2015 and was a fully operational police horse based at Kings Cross and Great Scotland Yard, and the lovely Shelley, a young Metropolitan Police horse who is currently on holiday with us for a few months rest before she returns to her training.

Lucy also snapped up the chance to meet our pint-sized rescue residents such as Hamish, Piglet and one of her new favourites Fidget who were in the field next to Kathleen.

Emily Bradford – Marketing & Communications Executive at The Horse Trust noted, ‘We have a great relationship with all the team over at The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch and are always happy to accommodate cuddles with the horses when they get a chance to come and visit us for a cup of tea.’

You can meet a selection of our residents when we are open to the public every Thursday – Sunday from 2-4pm. If you are too far away, meet our residents online and learn their stories by visiting our resident’s page.

To read Kathleen’s full bio click here.