Tonight’s news report from the New England Cable News Network sums up the shock and sadness in this city tonight as we learn that the Mayor plans to go ahead with the dissolution of the oldest mounted police unit in the United States.

Horses and humans lose their jobs sometime this summer.

These horses have stood watch over our famous World Series celebration riots, labor strikes, Pope visits, the Sacco-Vanzetti trial (and executions), Super Bowl victories, Larry Bird’s NBA Championship years, JFK, the Big Dig, Civil War peace jubilees, anti-busing school desegregation demonstrations, the Ryder Cup, the Coconut Grove nightclub fire, two World Wars, the Tall Ships, several National Democratic Conventions, the Molasses Flood, student revolutions, The Great Boston Fire, the Boston Strangler, Fourth of July concerts with fireworks (they didn’t flinch) on the banks of the Charles River, and over 100 Boston Marathons. And a whole lot more.

Next week will be their last Boston Marathon.

They even survived Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy and yes, even Mitt Romney.

The first official retirement home for horses in the USA was Red Acres Farm in Stow, Massachusetts, built so these horses would have a place to go. But, sadly, it’s gone too.

I received the sad news today from Paula McVey Walsh, wife of one of the mounted officers you will see in the video. Thanks, Paula.