Rest In Peace Aurora

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news of the passing of Aurora, retired Thames Valley Police horse, at the age of 13.

Although Aurora has only been with us a short while, she instantly found favour with our team and amongst our supporters who met her on the yard when visiting.

Aurora served Thames Valley Mounted Police (TVP) valiantly throughout her career and attended all mounted deployments including football matches, demonstrations, Royal escorts, neighbourhood policing patrols, school visits and music concerts. She also participated in mutual aid events, attending football matches in both Leicester and Brighton. Most recently, Aurora, along with her other TVP colleagues, escorted the Troops to the late Prince Phillip’s funeral.

Despite seeming to enjoy her work and being an exemplary police horse, Aurora unfortunately began to struggle with lameness issues and she retired to us here at The Horse Trust in 2022 due to these ongoing problems.

Fitting straight into our herd of retirees, Aurora made many friends both equine and human due to her placid nature. Her gentle character and striking size and beauty made hers a popular stable door for our visitors to linger at, as Aurora almost always had her head out and was ready for the strokes and adoration she so deserved in her retirement. A grey shire horse standing at 18 hands high, Aurora could be spotted in the field easily like a glorious marble statue, both stoic and stunning.

Aurora retired from her work with Thames Valley Police due to a few veterinary issues and sadly these continued to progress during her time with us. Whilst she was closely monitored by our veterinary surgeon and received check-ups regularly for these ongoing conditions, Aurora then sustained a ruptured ligament. Due to her other diagnoses and sheer size, standing at 18hh, this severely limited her prognosis and any treatment options available would have severely impacted her quality of life to undertake. Therefore, it was decided to let Aurora be at peace and run pain free across the rainbow bridge. While her time with us was shorter than some, she certainly made a massive impression on the team and our supporters. We are grateful to have been able to give her time to enjoy the fresh air, roll in plenty of mud and run freely with other horses during her time here at The Horse Trust. Rest in peace, sweet Aurora.