By Ashley Silver
Police1
WILMORE, Ky. — A Kentucky university gave the public a glimpse into their process for training trusted steeds to join mounted police forces across the country.
WTVQ News reported 16 newly imported weanlings recently joined the Asbury University police horse training program. Equine Director Harold Rainwater walked WTVQ News through their horse training process.
“They’ll start in a weanling program for that semester,” Rainwater said. “They’ll turn back out for the summer and be horses again. Then in the fall, they’ll come back in in another class. So sequentially they go through a class every semester until they are four years old.”
The program is also beneficial for students, who get the opportunity to witness the horses’ transition from when they first arrive to the moment they’re ready to hit the street with officers.
Kelsey Anderson, who was paired with a horse named Lexington, told WTVQ News that “it’s so cool seeing how much the program has grown through just these few years that I have been here. I mean it’s grown so much.” Lexington now serves the Bethlehem (Pa.) Police Department.
And because the Asbury training program is in such high demand, the 16 new horses are the only ones left for law enforcement agencies to claim at this time.
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