If you are looking for a good quality horse, or one that is very well trained, one option is to get a police horses. Depending on what you are looking for, you’ll find ones that are very young, just started or very seasoned. Some however, will be looking for retirement homes where they are not ridden at all. There’s often a lot of competition to adopt retired police horses and you’ll have to qualify, proving you can provide a suitable home. The RCMP however, has an auction, and if you’re looking for an athletic horse, these horses will probably be suitable.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Some police forces, like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have their own breeding program that produces the right type of horse for the musical ride. Not all the horses from the breeding program are suitable to join the thirty-two horse and rider pairs that make up the troop. All the horses used in the ride are at least 16 hands high, so any horses that aren’t this height are not used. The horses must be a solid, dark color as well. Some may not have the temperament or gaits required. So any young horses that don’t suit the color requirements are also passed over.
All horses in this famous breeding program are Hanoverian's. They are screened for temperament too because most of the riders in the musical ride are not equestrians before they join. At any time, there are about one hundred horses in training, and those who do not meet the musical ride’s standard are sold.
Previously, the RCMP held their auction every other year. But it has been three years since the last auction and about forty horses are being offered. Online bidding has been open since mid-August for the police foundation auction, but the live public auction will occur mid-October 2018. You can also apply for a test ride at a cost of $150, which will be deducted from the purchase price should you buy the horse. Horses sell for a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.
Retirement Horses
Of course very few police forces have their own breeding program. So horses available through most will be those headed into their retirement. Horses are typically retired in their early twenties although it may be sooner if a health or soundness issue threatens their career. These horses may or may not be sound enough to be ridden. If not, sometimes retired police horses will be adopted by officers who give them an appropriate retirement home, or they may be retired to the pasture of a member of the public.
It is possible to adopt one that you can ride. Police horses get specialized training and tend to be very calm in tense situations. Some have had careers before they became police horses. But, they may still require an experienced rider. Some of them may not be suitable for beginners. To find horses that might be available, follow the pages of a police force with a mounted unit. There are seven cities in Canada with mounted units and around two hundred in the United States, with the largest in New York City. Australia has about five units and about a dozen in the U.K.. Most will require you to apply by filling out an application and proving that you are able to provide the right care for the police horse retiree.
Military Horses
There are occasionally retired military horses available for adoption too. These horses may have specialized training, such as two that were sent into retirement back in 2016. These were driving horses trained to pull caissons in military funerals. You can apply for horses like these at www.oldguard.mdw.army.mil. In the UK, horses from the Household Cavalry are given to retirement homes. Again, you need to apply and these horses are not to be ridden.
Patrol Horses
If you would simply like a horse that is desensitized it is possible to find ones for sale that have mounted patrol training. These don’t necessarily come from any particular police or patrol unit, but they are advertised as having been through desensitization training. Care has to be taken when buying these horses as there are no guarantees about the type or quality of training the horse has received.
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