We’ve come to expect big horses on police forces around the world, and draft horses and draft horse crosses are fairly commonplace on urban streets. Size matters in crowd control and in being able to withstand all that time pounding the pavement. But in the UK, a new police horse takes size to the extreme. Meet “Trooper” the latest recruit and the largest horse to join the Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) Tactical Mounted Unit in its 50-year history.
According to a report on the BBC, Trooper is a 10-year-old Shire and stands a whopping 18.2 hands! “Everything size-wise, even the bridle, rugs, stable, has all got to be enlarged, just to accommodate his comfort,” Trooper’s trainer, Alistair Hunstone told the BBC.
The horse was originally named Joey, but the GMP traditionally name their mounts after characters in Charles Dickens novels, so Trooper it is. Given his size, it comes as no surprise that his saddle and bridle had to be custom fitted.
The Shire has only been with the GMP for six weeks or so, which means its early days in his training, with the average time for a horse to be considered fully trained being six months to two years. “It’s a matter of now getting him out more on the roads, to football grounds, meeting crowds of people and assessing how he responds to us,” Hunstone told the news outlet.
And the GMP let it be known that despite Trooper’s enormous size, true to his breed, he is a “gentle giant,” so members of the public shouldn’t be nervous to come ask to pet him.
Check out a video of ‘Super Trooper’ here.
#NEWS | Super Trooper his size is going to surprise you: GMP’s Mounted Unit welcome new horse to their family
Trooper is the biggest horse in GMP's history, measuring 18.2 hands (the measurement from the ground to the top of the horse’s shoulders)
More: https://t.co/uFQWmiZ3LL pic.twitter.com/j5G93ezH08
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) February 26, 2024
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