Police Horse Down

Mikey C, named after Officer Michael Ceriale, passed suddenly after a seizure:

• The horse reared and struggled as if fighting an invisible assailant. Chicago Police Officer Paul Casasanto, on mounted patrol at North Avenue beach, had slid off the horse as it began to struggle inexplicably.
  
  “Mik just went down,” Casasanto said in to a police radio while holding tightly to the horse’s reins. Casasanto tried to calm his horse while people in bathing suits and jogging clothes began closing in. “Stay back,” he warned, as the animal continued to kick its powerful back legs.
  
  After several weakening attempts to stand, the horse folded to the ground and rolled onto its side. When the horse laid its head on the pavement in defeat, Casasanto placed one hand over its half-open eye as the animal took a last labored breath. “He’s gone,” said Casasanto, as onlookers began herding children back toward the water.

Deepest sympathies to Officer Casasanto on the loss of his partner and to all our fellow officers who lost a living memorial to Officer Michael Ceriale, 13 years gone now.