Officer Clark

Officer Clark faithfully served the San Diego Police Department for almost five years. He had been an exemplary officer, keeping visitors to our beloved Balboa Park safe. During this time, Clark had been a member of the San Diego Police Department’s Mounted Enforcement Unit.

Prior to that, Clark, a draft-Standardbred cross, was an Amish cart horse in Clark, Missouri.

At some point it is believed he sustained a neck injury. Now, that neck injury is causing this fourteen year old gelding a neurological problem called Wobbler Syndrome. Clark stumbles without warning. As sweet of a horse as Clark is, this condition makes Clark unsafe as a police horse and unsafe for placement in a home where he would be ridden. In the past, horses like Clark, who could not be sold as riding horses, were humanely euthanized. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the San Diego Police Department, Clark has found a forever home at Horses of Tir Na Nog.

Clark is part of a legacy of the mounted patrol in Balboa Park that began in 1934. Sadly, the mounted patrol is scheduled to be eliminated early in 2010 due to budgetary cutbacks.

Please help honor the services of Clark and the other mounted patrol horses by contributing to our “Honoring Officer Clark Fund.” Standard sponsorship is available for Clark, at $2,000 per year. In order to provide Clark with the best care possible, we need to conduct some diagnostic tests on Clark. These tests could cost as much as $3,000. Donations for these diagnostic tests are greatly appreciated.