In the latest issue of Horse & Hound magazine, out now (dated 15 November), we visited PC Lisa Dobson, a member of the mounted police to discuss the finer points of her job, including chasing down armed suspects and being on patrol during a visit by Donald Trump. Here’s 8 things you might not know about the mounted police regiment…
1. The mounted police have a variety of roles, from patrolling on horseback in dangerous areas to crowd control at concerts and football matches — as well as performing at Olympia.
2. The horses have one day off per week, and are on patrol for about three hours a day.
3. It takes around two years to train a police horse. They aren’t bred specially for the job, and — as in any discipline — have to be introduced to everything slowly, starting with school fairs where the officers ask the children to shout and cheer, then moving on to visiting small football clubs.
4. The riding assessment to join the mounted police involves walk, trot and canter, demonstrating the ability to rise on the correct diagonal and canter on the correct lead. There is also a 16-week basic course, in Surrey. Once you’ve passed that, you are assigned to a stables.
5. Police officers cannot apply to specialise as mounted officers until they have spent at least two years on the street.
6. Mounted police also attend royal weddings, the State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour and state visits. When Donald Trump visited London this year, almost every horse in the Met was on duty.
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The Olympic champion led officers from the display team in some flying changes in the warm-up arena
7. Officers are expected to muck out, feed and hay three times a day. They must also be immaculately turned out, with polished tack.
8. It’s not all Policeman Plod — PC Lisa Dobson received an award for spotting a man acting suspiciously at the Brixton Splash street festival, chasing him down and finding he had a firearm.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
