# Sarge knows all the horses,  Brigandier,



## Slim (1 Mar 2006)

*Sarge knows all the horses, the way they work, what makes them tick. 'You love them all, the good and the bad,' he says*

One sight I will never for-get ... 

Bay St. at Charles. The Yonge St. Riot has just begun. 

I am beside the last of 11 horses strung across Bay. 

Eleven police mounts, snorting and champing at their curb bits as the sun sets. 

Suddenly, from every alley and corner and fence, chunks of patio stones rain down
The goons rip them from sidewalk planters. 

The horses hold. I do not know how. Belgians, Percherons, Morgans, mixes, 1,500 pounds each. 

The cops have helmets, but back then the horses do not. One, Trillium, gets a brick between the eyes. 

You can hear the crrraaack a block away. 

"She buckled," Sgt. Graham Acott remembers. "It was all I could do to keep her upright." 

Trillium's eyes roll, her nose pours blood, but she stays on her hooves all that shocking, disgraceful night in 1992. 

MARE DIED LAST YEAR 

The mare died last year, but Acott is still kicking. He has trained countless steeds, including Brigadier, the chestnut gelding run down in a deliberate hit and run Friday night. 

Brig, they called him. 

"A little stubborn," says the laconic Acott, "but a good horse right off the bat." 

The sarge has just finished a lesson with some of the Toronto Police mounted unit, at its ring in the CNE's Horse Palace. 

There are Winter (Winnie) Sun and Royal Sun, donated by this paper and the Royal Winter Fair. 

There, too, is a dazzling dapple grey named Blue Moon. His stall is next to Brig's, No. 8, which is the one now garnished with flowers and an empty, gleaming halter. 

Blue Moon was on patrol with Brigadier Friday night. The pair were a daunting sight in the crime turf around Morningside and Lawrence. That is the idea, of course. 

"You can see farther," says unit boss Staff-Insp. Bill Wardle. "And people can see you." 

A cop on horseback is good PR. Mighty handy, too, at 4 a.m. in the downtown nightclub zone when drunks are picking fights. 

Better surely than water cannon or teargas or attack dogs. Worth 10, 15 cops on foot. 

Wardle gave the order to shoot Brig. He saw the snapped leg and the poor horse struggling to rise and flee the pain. 

An ETF officer pulled the trigger. 

It still chokes Wardle up. "A worse tragedy because two men who meant the most to him were there. 

"You could see it in their faces." 

Brig's rider, Const. Kevin Bradfield was injured but is mending. Const. Ronnie Gilbert was on Blue Moon. But Brigadier had mostly been his mount. 

Const. Ted Gallipeau was his first rider. 

"A horse is like your child," says Gallipeau. "You muck 'em out first thing in the morning, you feed 'em and get 'em dressed, then take 'em out." 

So you know your horse like you know your kid. 

Brigadier was a big lug, just over 16 hands tall, a reliable Belgian tank. 

Only trains spooked him, who knows why. Maybe the vibration. 

At Fort York one time, a GO Train made him bolt. Gallipeau had to spin in tight circles to stop him. But in a stable of 27, he was the best with kids. Always the "pony" ride. Women were crazy about him, too. Those big eyes and that blond tail. 

"A real charmer," says Gallipeau. Feed him an apple core and he was yours for life. 

Brig was at his prime. Eight years old, four on the force. His death, so wanton, has shaken the stable. 

His saddle sits forlornly in Gallipeau's tack room, pommel and breastplate torn in the collision. 

This is a tight crew, steeped in romance and history. Wardle even wrote a book,The Mounted Squad. 

The horses have names like Sarge and Boot and Juno Beach and Honest Ed. 

SERVICE AT RICOH 

"Who knows for sure, but I think they sense something is wrong," says Gallipeau. 

"They're herd animals and one of the herd is missing." 

There will be a memorial service for Brigadier at Ricoh Coliseum next Monday at 10 a.m. 

"I know all these horses," says Graham Acott. "The way they work, what makes them tick. You love them all, the good and the bad." 

Says Ted Gallipeau: "This is hard to take. It's a member of your family."


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## blueboy (5 Mar 2006)

I'll be waiting to hear what the Public will say regarding a service for Brigadier. We here in Vancouver had a service for one of our Police Dogs that was killed in the line of duty. All went well except for some vocal persons who believe that the Police shouldn't be using dogs as it is inhumane..etc...etc. I'm sure that the Toronto Police Service will experience the same close mindedness as we out here on the left-coast did.


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## Slim (5 Mar 2006)

blueboy said:
			
		

> I'll be waiting to hear what the Public will say regarding a service for Brigadier. We here in Vancouver had a service for one of our Police Dogs that was killed in the line of duty. All went well except for some vocal persons who believe that the Police shouldn't be using dogs as it is inhumane..etc...etc. I'm sure that the Toronto Police Service will experience the same close mindedness as we out here on the left-coast did.



I'll be there (in uniform) tomorrow and give an account after its over.


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## blueboy (6 Mar 2006)

Please do. I'd be really interested into how it goes. 

Cheers
James


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## Slim (6 Mar 2006)

blueboy said:
			
		

> Please do. I'd be really interested into how it goes.
> 
> Cheers
> James



Well I went to the memorial today and it was, to say the least, well done. There were several mounted units from different police services present and the GGHG also had their's in attendance.

Rouhgly 2000 people (more or less) filled Ricoh Collisium. The TPS Chaplain, Chief Bill Blair and the officer that was hurt all spoke about Brigadier. The officer who was riding BRig at the time was choking back tears as he described his horse in loving detail.

Afterwards there was a mounted marchpast with all the mounted units and then a tour of the stables with a small memorial set up at Brig's stall. (I will post a pic of this later)

It ended (for us anyway) at about 1300 Hours.

Slim


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## blueboy (7 Mar 2006)

Thanks for the update. Sounds like it all went well.

Cheers
James


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## Slim (7 Mar 2006)

Brig's stall and stall memorial


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## gate_guard (7 Mar 2006)

I finally read the story to Brigadier's death, my condolences to the mounted squad and the whole department.
What's happening to the guy who hit him?


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## brin11 (7 Mar 2006)

That's exactly what I would like to know.  Is there any more info?  Was it really deliberate?  I'd like to take that guy and...well, lots of terrible things.

RIP to the brave equine


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## Ex-Dragoon (7 Mar 2006)

Bury him chest deep in sand and throw bricks at him.


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