When authorities found the malnourished horse, he had so little body fat that his hip bone poked through his skin, which made it painful to lie on his side.
A year later, the rescued Andalusian horse dubbed Maverick has fully recovered from his poor diet and neglect to take on a new life as a member of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Mounted Enforcement Detail, whose deputies on horseback search for missing people and patrol shopping centers, riverbeds and mountainous areas.
But recovery for the 9-year-old horse was a long, difficult road…