A long-serving police horse who has patrolled Scottish pavements for the past 15 years has settled into his new home in Aberdeenshire to see out his retirement.
PH Nerston, a 19-year-old Clydesdale cross, has moved on to pastures new after serving on the frontline of crowd-control operations across the country including the London Olympics, Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and numerous visits to football clashes at Pittodrie.
And it’s in the north-east where he’ll spend his retirement, taking a well earned break from duty and cared for by horse-lover Bev Everard at Burn of Cushieston, near Meikle Wartle.
Ms Everard said she’s delighted with how PH Nerston, now going by his stable name Nobby, has settled in with a new family including her partner Rob and their 11 other horses, five cats, seven dogs and two peacocks
“He’s an absolute gentleman,” she said. “He’s settled in so well and I feel like he’s been here forever. Nobby is part of the family now.
“He’s a very proud, bald horse. He knows his place and that’s up the front.
“He’s getting used to retirement now, he loves being out in the field and often can’t be bothered to come in for fear of being ridden. He’s been 15 years in the police force… I think he deserves his retirement.”
At four-years-old and 17 hands high, Nerston joined the then Strathclyde Police mounted unit in 2002.
His handler PC Andrew Gormley said Nerston soon established himself as a “reliable and brave” addition to the team.
“In the course of his career, Nerston attended numerous deployments at football matches, concerts, demonstrations and ceremonial occasions,” PC Gormley said.
“In 2014 during the Scottish independence referendum campaign, Nerston was present when significant disturbances began in the city centre. With protesters in close proximity and in an extremely hostile environment, Nerston performed brilliantly safeguarding the wellbeing of his rider and members of the public who found themselves amidst the turmoil.
“Whether it was as a supervisor’s horse or allocated to a new member of staff, Nerston could be relied upon to perform to the best of his abilities no matter the challenge placed in front of him.
“Whilst not always the biggest fan of fireworks, officers never doubted his willingness to work or his capacity to get the job done.
“Fearless in the face of disturbances, patient when called upon and steadfast in a cordon, Nerston was all he was trained to be and so much more.”
Ms Everard, 53, has kept horses from a young age and looks after a dozen of them in between her work as an office manager. One of her horses currently serves with Police Scotland too, so she was delighted to open her stable doors for one to return.
“I just wish more people would open their doors to retired police horses too,” she added. “He would make a superb hacking horse as he is 100% scare proof. I’ve made a conscious decision not to ride Nobby though, I think I’ve a good way of reading a horse and he’s happy here and enjoys being in the field.”
Nerston is one of two police horses to retire to the north recently with his partner Lauder enjoying life in Moray too.
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