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13-year-old boy donates horse to Ohio police department

The horse Ben Wagstaff donated was a much-needed addition to the unit

By Police1 Staff

ST. MARY’S, W. Va. — A 13-year-old boy with dreams of becoming a cop donated his horse to a mounted unit on Tuesday.

According to Fox 8 Cleveland, the horse Ben Wagstaff donated was a much-needed addition to the unit.

“Normally we’re looking for donations. We don’t have people coming to us saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got horses’,” Sgt. Bob Forsythe said.

Wagstaff emailed several agencies to see if his 4-year-old horse, Sam, could become a police horse.

The Columbus Mounted Unit said Wagstaff’s donation came at perfect timing because they had just retired two horses.

In a Facebook post, the department called the teen’s act “selfless.”

https://www.facebook.com/ColumbusPolice/videos/2054992724555323/

Forsythe says Sam will need about six to 12 months of training before he becomes an official police horse.

“I’m very proud of Ben,” Wagstaff’s mother, Jessica Owens-Wagstaff, said. “He’s raised him [Sam] from a colt.”

Officers gifted Wagstaff, who already knows he wants to be a cop when he grows up, with a Mounted Unit t-shirt, a patch and a challenge coin.

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