RIP Lord Nelson, Retired Rutgers Patrol Horse, Equine Professor Emeritus

Lord Nelson, a 42-year-old horse who was once penalized during a college football game, has passed away, according to published reports.

Lord Nelson died April 12 at Gales Way Farm in Wrightstown, according to Rutgers Today. He was 126 in human years.

He was believed to be 5-years-old when he was purchased in 1978 and selected to be one of the first horses of the Rutgers University Police Department Mounted Patrol Unit, according to Rutgers Today.

Karyn Malinowski, the director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center and faculty member in the Department of Animal Sciences, recalled a story about the horse for Rutgers Today:

“She remembers one night working late in Bartlett Hall on the Cook campus and all of a sudden hearing a fast-paced gallop coming from the road. Upon looking out the window, she saw Lord Nelson, who remembered to “walk” on the sidewalk and not the street, going back to his stable on College Farm Road followed by a police officer, on foot, in hot pursuit. Apparently he wanted to end his shift early that night.”

According to the Associated Press, Lord Nelson, who also carried the Scarlet Knight at football games, is the only horse ever to be penalized in a college football game. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty came in 1994, during a game against Army, when he broke free and ran down the Giants Stadium sideline, according to an AP story published on the New York Times website.

He went into retirement in 2000, but nine years later, he began working again, as an equine professor emeritus and the figurehead of Equine Science 4 Kids program, according to Rutgers Today.

A memorial research fund, The Lord Nelson Older Horse Research Fund, has been set up to further “old horse” research at Rutgers. For more information, send email to esc@aesop.rutgers.edu or call 848-932-9419.

Photo, via Rutgers Today/Rutgers Equine Science Center, Lord Nelson with Karyn Malinowski at the 2012 State 4-H Horse Show