Only horse flagged in NCAA game, Rutgers' Lord Nelson, dies

Published Apr. 15, 2015 9:03 a.m. ET

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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) The only horse to be penalized in a college football game has died.

Rutgers University says Lord Nelson was 42, or the human equivalent of 126 years.

One of Lord Nelson's duties during his 37-year Rutgers career was carrying the university's Scarlet Knight mascot during football games. It was against Army in 1994 that Lord Nelson was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after he broke free and raced down the sideline at Giants Stadium.

Lord Nelson was one of the first horses in the university police department's mounted patrol unit when he was purchased in 1978. He served for 10 years before becoming part of a student-run patrol unit for 20 years.

He retired as equine professor emeritus in 2000 to teach children about horses.