From the Fort Myers News-Press:
A Southwest Florida horse has scored a trip to the Super Bowl!
Maverick, a rescued racehorse with a heartwarming track-to-trail backstory, will be part of the mounted police working security detail outside of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on the big day, along with Cpl. Aaron Eubanks of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office who adopted the 17 hands tall (5.8 feet), 1,200-pound horse horse.
Maverick began his career as a racehorse named Track Shill at Gulfstream Park near Miami. He won his first race and then fractured his ankle during a training session. That ended his first career.
The huge horse was then sent to Track to Trail, a volunteer organization that rehabilitates injured race horses in Naples, and was renamed Eliot. He became known as a bully. He bit some volunteers. Orange cones were put in front of his stall to warn people to stay away.
“He was a really big horse with a lot of attitude,” said Cynthia Gilbert, executive director of Track to Trail.
Many of the volunteers were afraid of Eliot. But Chrissy Parisi, then 14, fell in love with the difficult horse and never gave up on him.
Chrissy was part of an education program at Track to Trail where young girls are paired with a retired racehorse to help with rehabilitation. Under the guidance of Gilbert and Chrissy, Eliot began to connect with people, learn boundaries and become calmer. After a year and a half of training Eliot was ready for a new home.
In 2019 the thoroughbred went to live with Eubanks and became part of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Since then he’s been used for crowd control and official ceremonies, and has been exposed to a variety of situations in order to prepare him for Super Bowl duty.
To read more, click here!
