Member Spotlight . . .
Ernie Brewbaker
Ernie Brewbaker grew up in central Pennsylvania. In 1978, he relocated to Florida where he began his career in law enforcement. After a number of years working
in various capacties, Ernie, a lifelong horse lover, became ingtrigued with the idea
of mounted patrol. His iinterest led him to join the Lake County, Florida, Sheriff ’s
Mounted Patrol.
In 2008, Ernie and his wife, Brenda, relocted to Middle Tennssee. Seeking to
continue his service on horseback, Ernie was instrumental in the resurrection of
the Bedford County Sheriff ’s Mounted Patrol.
Having previously owned Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds, once in Middle
Tennessee, Ernie was introduced to the breed that would become his passion - the
Tennessee Walking Horse. Of the breed he says, “They are the only kind of horse to
have. They are such good people horses. They really want to please their riders. The
Tennessee Walking Horse is the ideal mounted patrol horse.”
After selling his first Tennessee Walking Horse, a 16.3 hh black gelding, Ernie set
out on a search that would eventually bring him his horse of a lifetime. He recalls,
“I was out looking a horses with my wife and a friend. We had stopped several
places and on the way back, we started pulling up horse ads on one of the phones.
There was one that sounded promising so we called. Since it was already getting
dark, I set up an appointment to go see him on the following Sunday. It only took
one ride to convince me that I had found my horse.” That horse was a beutiful gray
gelding originally named I’m Regis and later renamed Ranger T. Walker in honor
of his work as an ambassador for the Just Say Whoa to Drinking, Drugs, and Bad
Decisions program.
Now residing back in Florida, Ernie and Ranger continue to work as a mounted
patrol team as members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff ’s Posse. They also continue to act as ambassadors for the Just Say Whoa program. Of their work with that
program, Ernie says, “If we can positively
influence one or two kids to follow
the straight and narrow path it totally makes my day. Some of my
best memories are when we see
the kid’s faces when they meet
Ranger.”
As if being active members of a