Teen involved in horse incident pleads guilty

HOULTON – A Littleton teenager who was one-half of a pair that got arrested on charges stemming from a horse training incident pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Houlton District Court.

Michael Sprague, 19, was fined $100 for the infraction by Judge Bernard O’ Mara.

Sprague and his co-worker, Clyde Geary, 22, of Houlton, were both riding horses through town April 18. The men were part of a unit that provides mounted security for events throughout the nation.

Geary and Sprague were training the animals by acclimating them to the noise of passing cars, horns and construction work.

While the men where riding abreast over the North Street Bridge, Houlton police Officer Troy Fitzpatrick got behind them after a witness reported that traffic was backed up.

The officer spoke through his cruiser intercom and asked the men to pull right and allow faster-moving traffic to pass, but the two riders allegedly refused. Another Houlton officer and two U.S. Border Patrol agents also witnessed the incident.

Ernest Bragg, who owned the horses that the men were riding, contended in a May interview that the men could not pull right because they were on a bridge, and that he felt the incident became a non-issue when the horses left the bridge.

Cars cannot legally pass on that bridge, as a solid double yellow line prohibits it.

Police followed the men back to Bragg’s residence, where a confrontation ensued. Sprague was arrested for obstructing public ways on May 4 and was released on personal recognizance bond.

As a condition of release, Sprague was prohibited from riding horses on public ways within the town’s compact zone. Subsequently, he was forced to train on off-road trails, which prevented the animals from becoming acclimated to car and pedestrian noise.

Clyde Geary, who also was charged with obstructing public ways and disorderly conduct, was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday afternoon.

The latter charge stemmed from Geary allegedly swearing at Fitzpatrick during the incident. The judge continued the case, however, due to time constraints.

Geary will appear in court again on Oct. 5.