Two days ago we wrote an article about the Suffolk horse, which is a critically endangered species in the UK. A police force has welcomed a critically rare Suffolk horse as its latest recruit after she successfully passed her training. The nine-year-old mare, Rose, passed the recruitment process on 19 June and joins the Police Scotland mounted unit.
Sergeant Lesley Winchester said that the force was “quite taken” with the 16.3hh mare when she arrived at the unit’s headquarters, Blairfield Farm, in Kilmarnock. “We thought she was huge. She’s very wide – she might not be the tallest at 16.3hh but she’s very big built and will certainly make a good impression and have a presence on patrol,” said the sergeant.
“She has the right temperament; she’s friendly and has good stable manners. She wasn’t fazed by the nuisance training with things like flags and plastic sheeting on the ground.”Rose was owned and bred by Bill Ireland and spent her early years in the show ring with producer Richard Telford before it was decided she needed “a more varied life” and she was put forward to Police Scotland.
We have some retirements coming up so we’ve been looking for horses to increase our establishment,” added Sergeant Winchester. We wish Rose and the police force an amazing experience and a very successful career.
