New Castle County police honor 'Bob' for service
Clydesdale was more friend than horse, officers say
By TERRI SANGINITI - Staff reporter
03/02/2004 - County police officers and the public paid their final respects Monday to a veteran New Castle County police mount memorialized during services at Carousel Park in Pike Creek. Bob, a 17-year-old Clydesdale, and at 17.2 hands the mounted unit's largest horse, died Thursday of cancer. County police Sgt. Nicole Hyden, who heads the eight-horse unit established in 1981, said Bob had been on the force for six years and was a favorite at parades and special events. With more than two dozen uniformed officers and four K-9 dogs at attention, Hyden eulogized Bob, but not as a horse. "I use the word friend in lieu of horse or police mount, because that's what Bob was to everyone," Hyden said. "Every time you saw him, he greeted you with genuine sincerity. And even if he was having a bad day, like everyone does, he never took it out on anyone." Hyden said Bob taught countless children how to ride at Carousel Park and was patient and gentle with awkward new riders. Bob and another Clydesdale, Ted, were donated to the department in 1998 by Patricia Walp in memory of her husband Donald, a Newark police officer killed in the line of duty April 2, 1987. Clydesdales, known for their intelligence and good temperament, comprise the entire unit. The Walps bought the draft horses when they lived in Illinois and brought them to Delaware when they moved. "They had the best of everything and they had the opportunity to show people what the breed is all about," Walp said. "They are truly called 'Gentle Giants,' and that's exactly what they are." In his early years, Bob had pulled an ice cream cart through the streets of Indiana, Hyden said. Since joining the police force in 1999, Bob not only patrolled residential neighborhoods, but also marched in local parades, attended Camp Day in Middletown, Sleepover Under the Stars at Carousel Park and was loved by children with whom he crossed paths. Mounted Officer William Brown recalled that when he first partnered with Bob two years ago at his first parade in Hockessin, he was amazed how all the kids waved and called Bob by name. "Everybody knew Bob," Brown said. Officer Ed Sommers, who was Bob's original partner, read a poem his wife wrote about the horse and Hyden gave one of Bob's shoes tied with a yellow ribbon to Walp, Brown and Sommers. The remaining horseshoe was kept for former county police Col. Jack Cunningham, who was not in attendance. County police spokesman Cpl. Trinidad Navarro said Cunningham liked to ride Bob on the weekends and in parades. Sommers, who rode the horse between 1999 and 2002, said Bob began ailing in early December. Last week, veterinarians at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center said the horse's pain had intensified to the point that it was time to put him down. After the eulogy, Sommers played taps on a bugle. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace," turned away from the crowd and slowly walked over cobblestones toward the OK Corral in the Western-themed park. Hyden said county police Chief Col. David McAllister already has approved funding for Bob's replacement. Reach Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771