Save Hero: A Beloved Mounted Patrol Horse

I might need to stop checking the progress because every time I do, tears fill my eyes. I cannot believe the generosity of this community. I’m truly humbled by it. I am not good at asking people for help, let alone money so my original goal was set to help pay off some of the vet bills. I never guessed we would reach that goal. So I raised the goal in hopes I will be able to fund the near future vet visits, purchase the grain he now requires and hopefully be able to start that fund for other horse owners.

Update: His vet bills have reached the $12,000 mark, some of which we’ve been able to pay through your help, but we still need to raise additional funds to pay the rest of his bill and for his upcoming vet visits. Any money we raise above his total bill will be made available to Wisconsin Equine Clinic to be used for future horse owners that might need a little financial help.

PLEASE NOTE: Since he is retired from Milwaukee County and is privately owned, none of the agencies he worked/works for are responsible for his vet bills. His illness happened off duty and his departments are not liable for his bills.

Here’s the story of Hero.

I’m Jo and I’m Hero’s mom. Hero is currently battling colic and literally fighting for his life. He spent 5 days at the Wisconsin Equine Clinic and is getting frequent vet checks now that he is back home at Thunderhorse in Grafton, but his bills are still racking up. Hero has never let me down and I’m asking for your help so I don’t let him down during his illness.

As you probably know Hero is a long time Mounted Patrol horse and an all around great horse. The GOAT for sure. He loves his job, loves the city, loves people and especially loves squad cars (when I trained him to be comfortable around squads with lights and sirens activated, the officer driving would give him treats (ok, it was Doritos. Doritos are his favorite). Now he sees squads as giant Pez dispensers and expects all cops driving them to give him Doritos and will follow them anywhere for his snack.

I bought him in January of 2003 and he was trained from only being able to pull wagons to being on the streets in August that same year. I leased him to my department during my time on the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Mounted Unit until the unit was disbanded in the fall of 2017. He was retired for a few years but my schedule didn’t allow me to spend as much time with him as he needed so I loaned him as a lesson horse for awhile and now lease him to another agency that uses him for about 1 month out of the year (spaced out, not all at once). He’s semi retired now.! He’s a Percheron cross and 25 years old. He has never had any issues physically that would limit his work and since he loves it, I would rather another cop ride him than him being bored in a paddock. He is ridden in the dressage discipline but is a stellar klutz so we never competed. We’re glad Hero is able to make so many people smile and we all would like to have him spread smiles still.

Hero has been through the thick of it with me, carrying me through hostile crowds, chasing after bad guys, stealing fellow deputy’s lunches, making traffic stops, conducting search and rescue missions, and being a constant source of entertainment for anybody around him. He patrolled the streets of Mobile Alabama during Mardi Gras and performed flawlessly during their training down there. He loves working and enjoys the attention he gets while doing it. Please help me let him continue to do what he loves and have more time with my heart horse.