Criminal - John & Trooper

Episode Date: May 13, 2022

For 10 years, Detective John Reilly and his horse Trooper were the only mounted team assigned to Central Park. They rode the same route every day. John says Trooper didn’t like change. “If you changed the route, he got mad.” And then in 2019, they both retired at the same time. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.  Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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That's BotoxCosmetic.com. That's BotoxCosmetic.com. I grew up in Jamaica, Queens. My mother was a stay-at-home mom and my father was a custodian. This is New York City detective John Riley. When he was six years old, he was playing in the street with friends and was hit by a car. The ambulance wasn't coming fast enough, and so police officers put John on a board, put him in the back seat of a police car, and took him to the hospital. And they saved you.

Yeah, the car was going 70 miles an hour, but it hit me. John says from that moment he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to become a police officer. But he didn't just want to be any kind of police officer. He wanted to be a very specific type. I just like horses and the idea of riding around in the city on a horse. It's a pretty animal. It's probably corny. John said he worked as a patrol officer for five years before he could be considered. Then there were a number of tests he had to pass.

And he needed to show an active interest in horses. Because this horse wouldn't just be something he rode around on. It'd be considered his partner. Tell me about the day that they finally said, okay, John, you're a mounted officer. Were you excited? I said, wow, this is great. And then a lot of guys are jealous of you.

You hear them make comments. What if you get assigned to a horse and the horse doesn't like you? I've seen that. What does that look like? It looks like a bad relationship. So it really is a relationship that you create with a horse.

Well, if you look at a horse, he has the same attitude as a rider. So if you've got a nasty horse, you've got a nasty rider. John had been a mounted officer for a long time, with many good horses. And then he met Trooper, part Belgian, part quarter horse. And John knew right away that Trooper

was going to be different. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. rough. And you just held on? Yeah. Like a rodeo? Yeah. And he would knock your vest up and hit your helmet over? Did he ever stop bucking? No. He always bucks at least once or twice. John wasn't phased. He saw it as the sign of a good horse with a good spirit. He says that a relationship with a horse is like any good relationship. Some give, some take. Trooper and John started their days together early at the NYPD stables. John says he'd walk in and say, What are you doing over there?

The horse would watch his every move. He knew I was getting his cocktail drink I make him in the morning. What was the drink? I used to give him his vitamins and he used to get joint medicine. Like glucoma or whatever. And I used to put it in

a Dunkin' Donuts cup. The plastic one. And put it in molasses and get hot water, shake it up. And if you run fast enough, you start kicking the wall. John would groom Trooper. Then they'd tack up and head to a fruit and vegetable cart on 60th Street, the same one every day.

We used to get him a couple of apples for later. We'd put it in the bag. I had a big saddlebag. I used to put all this stuff in there. My lunch on the other side. So he would go straight there every morning. So he knew the route. He knew the way.

Oh, yeah. If you changed the route, he got mad. Next, John and Trooper would make their way to Central Park. So you'd get to the park. And what would you do when you got to the park? Well, Trooper liked to eat some grass. They were there Sunday through Thursday, six hours a day, even in the pouring rain, for ten years.

They were the only mounted team in Central Park. John and Trooper had a routine. They would start on 86th Street and work their way down, always making a pass through the zoo. John says a lot of what he did was yell at people on bicycles to slow down. He says Trooper could spot a double-parked car. He would walk over to the car. John would write the ticket. And when Trooper heard John rip the ticket from the book, he'd step forward so John could easily reach the windshield. He says that when he went on vacation

and another rider was assigned to Trooper, the horse would pretend to be injured. And they had to bring him back. He wouldn't go with anyone else. He would be dragging his leg, and then he'd have to get the doctor. And then when I came back from vacation... Trooper's leg would be miraculously cured.

Trooper and John would eat lunch at the same place every day. And he'd go right there. We'd stop, I'd tie him up, I'd go eat lunch. After I'd eat lunch, half hour, he would give me a half hour break. And then I had to give him his apples. They'd spend all day like this,

walking around Central Park. He was a very clean horse. He would always use the same spot. To go to the bathroom? Yeah. Really? Even when he was on patrol, he couldn't go to the bathroom where he worked. When he wanted to go, he let you know he had to walk down the block.

So no one would see him going to the bathroom on patrol? Oh, yeah. I told everybody he had a mirror. He liked looking at himself. Tripper seems like quite a fellow. Oh, yeah. He didn't let anybody talk to me. You could talk to him, but if you want to talk to me, he wouldn't let you. What would he do? If I was on him, he would spin, push you out of the way.

If I was on the ground, he would push you out of the way. You could talk to him, not me. He was very possessive. You know, you see all the movie stars and they like you. What, really? There'd be movie stars? Yeah. Do you remember any movie stars? I saw Liam Nelson, Michael Douglas,

Catherine Zeta-Zone. And they'd say hi? Yeah, and Frasier used to eat at the same restaurant that, what was it, Kelsey Grammer, that we used to have lunch. At the end of each day, they'd make one last stop at the bottom of the park to visit with people. John carried treats so people in Columbus Circle could feed them to Trooper.

He says sometimes before going home, Trooper would just stop and look up at the sun. He liked to take a minute before going back to the state. Yeah, collect himself. One day, John's supervisor called him into his office. John's birthday was coming up. And when you turn 63, you have to retire from the NYPD. My boss said that you have less tomorrows than yesterday. That's kind of sad. Yeah, right?

Would you think about that when you would go out, you know, you had a month left, two months left, every time you'd get up on Trooper and head out, would you be thinking, oh boy, I don't want this to end? Yeah, I was trying to distance myself from Trooper because I

didn't want to, I know it would be kind of hard when we had to go. How did you start distancing yourself from him? I would spend less time with him. Do you think he knew that you both were coming to the end? Oh, yeah, John retired. The department had a ceremony for him and Trooper on John's last day. The last day was the hardest. Did you ride Trooper on your last day of work?

Yeah, well, I got to ride him around the block. And I was supposed to turn around, but I kept going. You kept going around? We went around the block. Everybody's like, where is he going? You didn't want to get off of him. No. You know.

John Riley's last day of work was also Trooper's. Both retired. John Riley after 34 years on the job, and Trooper after 15. Will you kind of describe what these pictures are? This is the last day I wrote them. Let's see. That's me. You see I'm sad, starting off. This is the last day? Yeah. Do you think you look sad? You do look a little sad. This is the last time I'm taking them out.

That's my two kids, literally. Did your two kids get to know Trooper? Yes. They liked him, too. John says retirement is going okay. He doesn't think he's so good with people. He didn't want to stop working. And he says if he could have it his way, he'd still be

spending every day with Trooper out in the sun. Where is Trooper now? He's up in Massachusetts. Where? Do you know? Have you seen him? I have some pictures of him. Have you? Haven't been to see him yet him. Have you ever been to see him yet? No.

Will you go to see him? Oh, yeah. Do you think he'll arrive and he'll start huffing and puffing? Do you think he'll know you're there? Yeah, not right off. I'd be curious, and then he'll be like, all right, let me start looking for his jelly beans. He likes jelly beans.

Jelly beans. What's his favorite type of jelly bean? I his jelly beans. He likes jelly beans. Jelly beans. What's his favorite type of jelly bean? I like jelly beans. I used to get the licorice candy for him. He liked that. We first spoke with John in May of 2019. He'd only been retired for a few months and said he wasn't ready to see Trooper yet.

It seemed too new, too hard. I'm trying to get the nerve to go. That's my best horse. We'll be right back. Support for Criminal comes from Apple Podcasts. Each month, Apple Podcasts highlights one series worth your attention, and they call these series essentials. This month, they recommend Wondery's Ghost Story,

a seven-part series that follows journalist Tristan Redman as he tries to get to the bottom of a ghostly presence in his childhood home. His investigation takes him on a journey involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums, and leads him to a dark secret about his own family. Check out Ghost Story, a series essential pick, completely ad-free on Apple Podcasts. with our colleagues, business partners, and managers. Listen in as I talk to co-workers facing their own challenges with one another and get the real work done. Tune into Housework, a special series from Where Should We Begin, sponsored by Klaviyo.

Hello? Hi, I'm looking for John. It's me. John, it's Phoebe Judge calling. Thanks so much for talking. We called John back at the beginning of the pandemic. He'd been retired for just over a year. He said he was feeling a little claustrophobic. Still didn't like being retired.

It was like a lot of anxiety in the beginning, and now it's like you're used to it. There's no more rushing around. He hadn't visited Trooper. He said he was still trying to work up the courage. I haven't gone back to Central Park yet either, on my own. I was going to go do the walk that we used to take by myself.

You haven't been to Central Park in a year. Yeah. Yeah, I bought all his jelly beans for him. I started eating them now. You better get up there sooner, they'll be gone. He likes Mary Jane's, too. Really? That old-fashioned candy? Yeah. But you have to have

it open before you get there. Because, uh, he's impatient. He'll eat the paper and everything. He's probably a big fat guy now. He probably ate all the grass up there. He told us that when he imagined what it would be like when he visited,

he imagined Trooper out in a field. I bet he'll come running to you once he hears you call for him. He might. He likes to play hard to get sometimes. He'll make you walk all the way out there to him and put the lead line on him. And then I'll let you pat him. Yeah. Yeah, I'll probably groom him up a little bit.

I'll brush him and take care of his tail, see how his tail is. We called again this week. Hello? John? Yes. I know it's you from North Carolina. That's me. It's Phoebe. Hello. How are you? How are you's you from North Carolina. That's me. It's Phoebe.

Hello. How are you? How are you doing? I'm good. It's good. He said he still hasn't gone. No. I get dreams of him.

I was on patrol last night. You had a dream about him last night? Yeah. He said he'd been thinking about songs he used to sing to Trooper. Tom Jones songs. Well, he used to like Fall in Love. We used to sing that in the tunnel. And everybody used to run out because I had a bad voice.

But that was his favorite. And he liked Ingebert Humberdink And he liked George Strait I used to sing on Going up Central Park West Do you think there's any part of you And I know that COVID's been there So it's been difficult

But do you think there's any part of you That's maybe a little scared To go and see Trooper Because you that's maybe a little scared to go and see Trooper? Because how you've gotten a little older, or maybe he has, or that it will make you sad? Yeah. I don't want to make him sad when I leave to go home again. He probably will ignore me because I left him there. You didn't think you gave him up?

Yeah, I dumped him. It can be hard. Sometimes I look on my iPhone and it shows me a picture of something and I didn't know it was going to pop up and it popped up and I get sad about it. And, you know, it can be hard to look back. It can make you miss things more. Yeah.

Well, if I go up to it, I'll probably go up to it a lot after that. It's just breaking the ice. You don't feel like you're ready to break the ice yet? Yeah. Well, even though you haven't been to see him, it sounds like you're still thinking about him and he's popping up an awful lot for you.

It's weird, right? I think it sounds really normal. I think it probably means that you still miss him. Oh, yeah. Thank you. are Susanna Roberson, Jackie Sajico, and Libby Foster. Our technical director is Rob Byers. Engineering by Russ Henry. Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com. We're on Facebook and Twitter at Criminal Show,

and Instagram at criminal underscore podcast. Criminal is recorded at North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC. We're part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Discover more great shows at podcast.voxmedia.com. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. I heard he likes port. He likes to have port at night. What is it?

Before he goes to bed. Porto? He likes some porto wine before he goes to bed. Really? No, I'm just joking. Well, now that he's retired, I mean, let a man do whatever he wants, I guess. The number one selling product of its kind with over 20 years of research and innovation. Botox Cosmetic, Adabotulinum Toxin A, is a prescription medicine used to temporarily make moderate to severe frown lines,

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