Cape May County’s Newest Sheriff is a Horse

The Cape May County Sheriff always gets his man, and, it turns out, he always gets his horse, too.

In January, the Sheriff's department posted on its Facebook page that it was looking for a horse for mounted police work, but with some very specific requirements. The horse they were looking for on a 60-day trial basis was a gelding, with a minimum height of 16HH, 8-16-years old.

Well, it turns out you can look a gift horse in the mouth after all, because the Sheriff's department has officially welcomed their newest sheriff-in-training, Mount Speck.

This week on the Cape May County Sheriff's Facebook page, Sheriff Robert Nolan welcomed Mount Speck as the agency’s newest equine officer.

Mount Speck served with the Evansville Police Department in Indiana for 5 years before transferring to the Jersey Shore to continue his career last week.

He is an 8 year old, Percheron - Quarter Horse Cross. He stands 16.2 hands tall or about 66” at the top of his withers (base of the neck, above the shoulders).

 

If you are wondering what a Quarter Horse is, well, me too.  Wikipedia says the quarter horse is named for its speed.

The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph.

55 miles per hour! That is impressive, but not quite fast enough to pull over a speeder on the Garden State Parkway. Just kidding.

Mount Speck is being now being evaluated and certified and will be assigned to Officer Raniszewski and ready to officially head out on patrol by this spring, according to the Facebook post.

Watch for the Raniszewski/Speck sheriff duo out on patrol by summertime in Cape May County.  Welcome, partner!