Police Horse Training Analysis

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Police Horse Training and Treatment: An Overview

Police horses have been used by the Australian Police since 1879. Over the decades additional states and territories have added police horses to their units. Mounted police have further advantages then a policeman on foot, like an elevated 360-degree view when in crowds and the ability to move efficiently through streets. According to Queensland’s Senior Sergeant Mark Paroz ‘In a very simplistic way, QMPU officers perform a combination of general duties, traffic and specialist response that provide operation, community policing and public relations support to the Police Service and the greater Queensland community. The horses are our primary mode of transport to fulfil these functions’. This …show more content…

This means they have never had experience with loud cities or busy crowds. This would allow police horse trainers to teach the horses to become comfortable with the city in an experienced and ethical manner rather then someone unexperienced making the horse afraid of noise/cars etc. In addition, it is essential that the horses are exposed to the urban environment for patrolling at various times of the day and night. It takes time and effort to find horses that can make the requirements needed for a police horse. Australian Poem PM Ariel talks about the struggles of finding suitable horses for police throughout the 40’s during WW2. This was because the army was desperate for horses to fight in the war. ‘But Army had a preference for coats a shade of night to join the fray then slip away – too chancy on a white’ The poem talks about demanding horses of dark shades to blend in with dark surroundings. Because all of the decent horses were in the war overseas, there were no suitable horses available for the police. So the decision was made to birth horses especially for the mounted police. This is how the Mounted operations began in South Australia. According to Ross Jacobs ‘a horse should be broken in from the ages of 2-3 years, but should not be worked hard until the age of 5, so the horse has had a chance to mature and fully develop to avoid injury.’ This means that there was …show more content…

This involves walking over coloured items, flags, drums, umbrellas, flapping material and the like. We regularly train with the Police Pipes and Drums Band to expose them to both music and loud noise. I often say there is no right or wrong methodology, as long as the experience is positive and assists in preparing the horse for patrol activities. Training is ongoing and, on any given day, horses are receiving some type of education that reflects their individual needs and focuses on their development.’ Training is kept ethical by making sure the horse is never too stressed or the horse in desperate need of a necessity (food/water/shelter). Police horse training can range from 2 years to 8 years, depending on the state or territory. Every single police horse in Australia goes through a similar training system that is divided into three stages. Another resemblance is that the horses are treated very well when on and off duty. The senior constable in the South Australian mounted unit said ‘The horses and their needs are always first priority here because they give us excellent service when on duty so we feel obligated to treat them with the same respect. The Mounted Police designed to handle problems and situations which require more concentrated attention than can normally be provided by the General

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