By Jess Hallas-Kilcoyne

We are delighted to announce the winners of our fourth annual Readers’ Choice Awards, whose contributions to Canada’s horse community are truly worthy of recognition. Congratulations to our very deserving winners!

The 2013 Readers' Choice Awards winners are (please read more at each link):

Canadian Cowgirls: Promoting Patriotism  
LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society: Giving Racehorses a Dignified Retirement    
Jane James: Therapeutic Riding & Para-Equestrian Pioneer  
Walter White: Making Wishes Come True   
Whiz N Tag Chex: Destined for Greatness   
GreenScene Agritek Inc: Creating an Affordable, Sustainable Solution to the Horse Manure Problem

Pico (1982-2012)
Celebrating Nearly Two Decades of Loyal Service

Last fall, the Vancouver Police Department bid a fond farewell to a friend and retired colleague. Pico, a tall, Dutch Warmblood gelding, served the City of Vancouver for nearly two decades, first as a police horse, then as a therapeutic riding horse, before returning to the VPD stables in Stanley Park in 2011 to live out the remainder of his retirement. He was humanely euthanized on October 21, 2012, at the ripe old age of 31, having enjoyed a long, full life.

“The members of the mounted unit, both past and present, owe a great debt of gratitude to Pico, and we can all take comfort in the fact that he enjoyed his last year living the life of leisure amongst his friends and that he passed peacefully, without pain,” said the mounted unit’s Sgt. Doug McMillan in the official statement announcing Pico’s passing. 

Pico joined the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) in 1993, and his steadfast nature, coupled with a lively intelligence, made him a favourite with both the mounted unit and the public.

“He was the training horse for almost everybody who went into the mounted squad because he was a safe horse and he was a smart horse,” says retired Detective Constable Grant Rainsley, who served as a Constable in the mounted unit for several years, during which time he was paired often with Pico. “He took care of his riders...he saved my hide on more than one occasion.”

“He had a real personality,” Rainsley continues. “He liked his little drink of Coca-Cola every now and then too. When we’d go back to the barn for lunch, I’d get a sandwich and a Coke, and he’d always be staring at me, so I’d give him a little shot at the end of the can. And he just loved it, and wrinkled his lips as if to say ‘Oh, Dad, thanks!’”

Rainsley also recalls that Pico was excellent with the children in the school groups that used to visit Stanley Park for a tour of the VPD barn. “I taught him to shake hands and he would do it on command. “I’d always ask the kids, ‘Can horses shake hands?’ And they’d answer, ‘No!’ And I’d say, ‘Oh yeah? Watch this…’ And then I’d always sneak him a cookie.”

Rainsley retired in 2003, but Pico stayed on in the mounted unit for another three years until, in October 2006, he was retired from the VPD after 13 years of service and went to live at the nearby Southlands Riding Club to be a therapeutic horse for Pacific Riding for Developing Abilities. After five years, Pico’s advanced age (30 years old) warranted his full retirement.

“They called us up and asked what we wanted to do, and we said, ‘We’ll be right there’ and brought him back here,” says McMillan. So in the summer of 2011 Pico returned to the VPD stable, the first horse ever to be retired there. Old as he was, “When he came back, he wasn’t our largest horse, but he still thought he was in charge,” McMillan says fondly. “I was very happy that we got to take him back. He certainly lived the life of luxury here.”

Shortly before Pico died, Rainsley, who now lives in Powell River, BC, visited his daughter in Vancouver and decided on a whim to swing by the squad’s barn for a visit. Much to his surprise and delight, he was greeted by a familiar face. “Damned if Pico wasn’t there,” he says. “And within a week he was gone. Ten years I go without seeing him and then I pop by and he’s gone right afterward. I had the feeling he was hanging on for me to see him.”

For information about the Vancouver Police Department and their Mounted Unit, visit www.vancouver.ca/police.

Main Article Photo courtesy of Vancouver Police Department