This waymark is the location of the arena where the Portland Mounted Patrol keeps their horses. In the photos, the horse with the white blaze and stockings is Murphy.
The Oregonian as well as OregonLive.com and all three of the major Portland television stations provided updates regarding a lovable, overweight equine contender with a rocky background, who was vying for a coveted vacant position on the Portland Mounted Police Patrol, after an elderly police horse was put down due to health problems.
Ian, a 19 year old Belgium Draft horse, had been euthanized over the weekend of October 1, 2012 after a brief but severe illness. Ian had been the horse on the mounted patrol with the longest time in service; he joined the group in 2005 and served up until his death.
Article about Ian:
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After the passing of Ian, Jennifer Mack, head trainer for the Mounted Patrol searched for a replacement, and had "interviewed" more than 20 equine prospects with no luck. Then, Jennifer found a 6 year old horse advertised on Craigslist for $3,000, which was the budget she was working with. The horse was "Murphy's Law", a fat, out-of-shape Gypsy Draft horse who was in Roseburg, Oregon. The gelding was owned by a couple who had fallen on hard times (due to the real estate market crash), and was being forced to sell their last horses, including a couple that they had bred and raised themselves. They had jokingly named one of the colts they had raised "Murphy's Law" due to all the unfortunate circumstances in their lives recently, believing that if anything bad would happen, it would happen to them, which is often referred to as Murphys' Law.
The Oregonian did a series of articles which showed Murphy's progress, first he had to loose weight and get into shape, while all along, his perky, odd personality was put to the test, to see if he would be suitable for the rigors of being a Police Horse. At the end of the 90 day "trail" period, Murphy had lost weight, become a saddle horse, and passed the grueling test that included walking thru a childs plastic swimming pool, over and thru black plastic, past child's stroller, ignor gun shots, loud angry crowds, and prove he can be unruffled. In the end, the trainer happily performed the initiation task of cutting off the long, wavey mane on Murphy, the sign that he was now a Police Horse.
Articles, photos & videos of Murphy: (this link leads to ta list of videos of Murphy)
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visit link)
Address of location:
Dolorosa Ruben Marguilis Riding Arena
1362 NW Naito Pkwy
Portland, Oregon 97209