b'HORSES IN UNIFORMof the Toronto Police Department, waslike football players getting stuck with euthanized several years ago after atheir cleats and injuring their knees, says driver deliberately struck him and fledPierard.the scene.If riders and caretakers know and These events are, thankfully, rare, saysunderstand these risks, says Corey, it Pierard. Police horses also risk sufferingleads to better care and injury preven-injuries caused by weapons or projectiles,tion. These are valuable horses, and but such cases are even less frequent,their assigned vets are going to be especially thanks to good protective gearmonitoring for any signs of problems and and correct evaluation of when not totreating aggressivelyjoint injections, deploy the horses. supplementsanyone showing any earlysigns of arthritis, she explains.CHRISTA LEST-LASSERRE PHOTOSWear and Tear Still, given their primary activity at A far more common risk in police hors- work, the hard surfaces dont pose as es is wear and tear on their bones, joints,great a threat to these horses they could. and soft tissues due to working on hardThe fact that police horses work mostly surfaces, our sources say. Most of themat a walk is good because the forces on get retired for orthopedic reasons, usuallythe hooves and other limb structures are because of chronic arthritis by about agelower at walk compared with the faster Because police horses work primarily on hard 16, says Pierard. Slippery surfaces andsurfaces, they often develop wear and tear ongaits, says Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, cobblestones make it worse by increasingtheir bones, joints, and soft tissues over time. FRCVS, Dipl. ACVSMR, McPhail Dres-the risk of injury or even falls. sage Chair Emerita at Michigan State The jobs inherent risks, such as quickthe problem, but its difficult to get theUniversity (MSU) and president of Sport turns and sudden acceleration, add to theright mix, they say. While slippery metalHorse Science, in Mason, Michigan. This injury risk, says Corey. These make forshoes are far from ideal, increasing trac- tends to spare themto a certain extent more acute soft tissue emergency issues,tion using studs or rubber surfaces couldbut not completelyfrom the develop-she says. create other kinds of tissue damage byment of concussive injuries. Technical advances in equipment andgetting the horse stuck, especially when the horses environment could help solveturning, causing twisting injuries. ItsColic and Other IllnessesThe No. 1 illness affecting police horses is colic, but thats true for any horse population, says Corey. Fit for the Job: Selection and Training Like any other horse, police horses are Science-based selectionalso at risk for infectious disease, Corey tests for police horses evalu- adds. Their close stabling puts them at ate their reaction to scarygreater risk of getting sick once an infec-objects such as openingtious agent is in the barn. However, their umbrellas, as well as theirpretty small population means theres acceptance of being tiedrigorous biosecurity: The horses rarely and even their behavior income into contact with nonpolice horses, a paddock. Three equitationand newcomers to the barn stay quaran-scientistsMarc Pierard,tined until deemed safe. For vector-bornePhD; Paul McGreevy, PhD;diseases such as West Nile virus, most and Rony Geers, PhD, of thedepartments ensure their horses stay up-U.K., Australia, and Belgium,to-date on their vaccines. respectivelyr ecently teamedPolice horse training involves habituation and sensitization.up to develop solid policeTake-Home Messagehorse tests and evaluate how pretest activity affected their results. Their ongoing work shouldUnique in their appearance, work, lead to standardized pretest activity for 30 minutes before testing to ensure reliable results.personalities, and relationships with Once selected, horses need well-designed and well-executed training that emphasizeshumans, police horses are special kinds habituationlearning to ignore frightening images and soundsand sensitizationlearning of heroes that deserve special consider-to react to subtle cues, says science-based trainer Andy Booth, who works out of France.ation, say our sources. Police horses are Trainers need a great understanding of horses learning capabilities so that their trainingthe only tool in the police service that will be effective, which will ensure safety for the horse, the rider, and the public, Boothcan be a physical barrier one minute and says. These horses need error-free conditioning, using the principles of learning theory, sothe next minute theyre breaking them that the mounted officers can obtain correct responses to signals in all environments at alldown, Lynch says, and winning the times.Christa Lest-Lasserre, MAhearts of the community they serve in the process.h28March 2020The Horse|TheHorse.comPoliceHorses.indd 28 2/4/20 9:06 AM'