What better time than the Year of the Horse to celebrate the Providence Police Department’s Mounted Command. Meet Adonis, age 21, a draft cross gelding coming in at 16.1 hands (roughly 5.5 feet at the withers).
The majority of the mounts are “draft crosses”. (Heavily boned work horses such as Clydesdale, Percheron and Belgian, crossed with the lighter boned saddle breeds such as a Thoroughbred or an American Quarter Horse) These draft crosses are very strong boned, and as such they can handle the weight of heavy riders and walking on hard surfaces for long hours. They’re also cold-blooded and tend not to be easily startled, allowing them to be readily trained to perform their police duties.
Worth their weight in public relations gold. Mounted officers are fond of saying, “No one ever pets a police car”.