West Midlands Police mounted unit participates in first national training in over a decade
Forces across the UK come together for collaborative exercises in Oxfordshire
West Midlands Police's mounted unit took part in a nationwide training event, the first of its kind in over ten years, held in Oxfordshire.
The training was hosted by Thames Valley Police at the former RAF base Upper Heyford and saw 24 police horses and officers from eight UK forces come together.
The event aims to upskill mounted units across the country, ensuring consistency in high standards of capabilities.
West Midlands Police contributed four horses and riders to the course, alongside specialist ops training officer PC Gilmore and lead instructor PC Dipper.
The training included challenging public order scenarios, providing officers with the chance to test their expertise alongside more established units such as those from Thames Valley and the Met.
PC Dipper, who recently joined from the Met Police, is tasked with maintaining high training standards, facilitating mutual aid during public order deployments, and training new horses in the unit.
PC Dipper expressed pride in the team's performance: “This event was an opportunity to show our colleagues from other forces that, despite being new, we are a fully operational, functional, professional, and competent Mounted Unit.
"The team understandably felt an immense amount of pressure and scrutiny going into their first national training day, but myself and the other forces only had positive feedback for them.
"Our horses looked exceptionally well, which was commented on by our Met colleagues. As an ex-Met mounted officer myself, I can honestly say I was proud to be standing there with my team, wearing the WMP uniform.”
Organised by Sergeant Heidi Cornick from TVP’s Mounted section, the event was titled Exercise Paro, promoting standardised skills, strengthened collaboration, and resilience among mounted units.
Horse welfare was prioritised throughout the day, with specialists including a vet and farrier available to attend to the horses.
Thames Valley Police aims to host more joint training exercises in the future, enhancing national readiness for both planned and spontaneous public order incidents.