The eight racehorses joining the mounted police unit are Bahuleyan (6), Full Volume (7), Ghosht (6), Dubai Bay (5), Thiago (5), Sultan Suleman (7) Insoko (6) and Chetak (5). Of the six, eight have already reached the headquarters of Kolkata Mounted Police — the country’s oldest mounted police unit. Officials said Sultan Suleman and Chetak will be reaching the headquarters soon.
The division’s current strength is 71 horses against the sanctioned strength of 98. The orders for the induction of the eight horses, which are a gift from their owners, were issued November last year.
According to mounted police officials, these horses are used to the exciting energy of racecourses, but when they join the police wing they have to undergo rigorous training for a month or two before they are assigned a daily duty. Officials said most racehorses are given to the mounted police unit after they become unfit to participate in races.
“These horses are retrained before being assigned duties. In the racecourse, they only perform one type of task whereas in the police they play different roles,” said Abhra Chatterjee, OC, Kolkata Mounted Police.
A typical horse moves in four ways — walk, trot, canter and gallop. During a race, a horse gallops, but for police operations, they are trained to walk, trot and canter.
“We accept horses from racecourses only if they are medically fit. We also check their temperament. Mounted police require calm and quiet horses as they have to move amid crowds. Racecourse horses run at very high speed, so we check their nasal capillary as it gets ruptured at times. Racecourse horses usually gallop at high speed and are in the habit of running in a circular direction. So, the trainers first retrain them before they assign them duties. Training includes walking in the crowd without injuring the public and exposing them to traffic and road sounds,” said Kolkata Mounted Police veterinarian Dr Surojit Basu.
The Indian Express visited one of the workout sessions for these newly inducted racehorses at the Paddock in the Esplanade area of the city on Thursday.
During the sessions, ‘Full Volume’ turned out to be one of the “difficult” ones as he refused to walk or move in circular motions during the workouts. Constable Animesh Chakraborty, who was training the horse, said, “It is easier to train a new horse than an already trained one. They have already adopted a routine and have a way of doing things. It is tough to erase it from their memory and retrain them.”
Chakraborty, who joined the Kolkata Mounted Police in 2014 as a constable, only gave up after the horse managed to stay stationary for nearly 10 minutes
Mounted police officials said these horses have to undergo training for a month or two before they are ready for police operations. Horses are sensitive animals and factors like temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation can influence their ability to perform, they added.
“Racehorses are performing horses. However, despite being active and fit, they don’t always win and their owners often hand them over to the mounted police. If they are medically fit and are trained well, they can serve for long,” said a senior Kolkata Mounted police official.
In November last year, a constable injured his chin while trying to control a Mounted Police horse ‘Voice of Reason’ for a Cricket World Cup match.
The horse died during the November 5 match which was played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He was part of the unit involved in crowd management. According to Lalbazar police sources, it was believed that he had died out of shock due to the firecrackers burst during the match.
“‘The Voice of Reason’ too was a racehorse gifted to the Mounted Police by a racecourse. Horses are sensitive animals, they can’t stand loud sounds. I was standing there when the incident took place. It was very unfortunate and heart-wrenching,” said an official.