A Clydesdale horse who competed in the show ring and “always wants to please” has turned her hoof to a new career with the police.
West Yorkshire Police welcomed six-year-old Millie this year and the mare has now successfully passed her trial period.
A spokesman for the force said 17.2hh Millie was born in Devon, and moved to North Yorkshire as a three-year-old where she was involved in showing, picking up a number of rosettes.
“Her trainer thought she would make an ideal police horse and contacted West Yorkshire Police,” said the spokesman.
Millie will now take her police horse name Millgarth, after the former Leeds police station.
Millie replaces 22-year-old Breeze, who retired in September last year following 11 years with the force. A spokesman said at the time of his retirement the gelding would have “very difficult shoes to fill”.
Millie’s rider, PC Steven Durrans, said the mare is “exactly” what the force needs and she “fits in perfectly”.
“She’s so friendly and always wants to please. She’s got a great temperament; she’s very polite which is important for such a big horse,” he said.
“She passed her trial period with flying colours. In that four weeks she had to learn a little bit about the job; it started off with her doing some semi-rural patrols and progressed from there with nuisances, like flags and drums, and noise and rattles in the school to see how she reacted. She takes everything in her stride.”
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Millie will now continue her training for up to two years.
“She’ll attend major events and maybe start off at the cricket and rugby, and then progress up to the likes of Leeds United, Huddersfield and Bradford,” said PC Durrans.
“Hopefully she’ll have a long and successful career with us.”
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