Leading the way with loose horses

Police officers called out to help with horses that escaped their fields are now better equipped to corral them to safety thanks to a donation.

Lincolnshire Police has received 20 head collars and lead ropes thanks to the Bransby Horses equine charity and of Cobbs Country Store – they will be placed in police stations across the county and in every rural crime team response vehicle. 

During the last 12 months police have attended more than 130 incidents where horses have been reported loose. Officers can now use the head collars and lead ropes to keep the horses safe.

“When a horse roams away from where they should be, they can cause a serious risk to road users with the potential of a collision causing serious harm to all involved,” said PC Karen Irving, from the Rural Crime Action Team.  

“We will always try to locate the owners of any horse who becomes loose, as they know how best to handle them.  Often horses are nervous and frightened so it's important to get them back home safely and quickly. Where we are unable to contact owners, we will try other local contacts including Bransby Horses to see if they have room to temporarily board the equine whilst we look for an owner.”

Attached to the donated headcollars are QR codes which, when scanned with a smartphone, provides information on how to approach, catch and lead an equine as well as useful information such as Bransby Horses contacts and other charities that can assist.

PC Irving added: "We've all been to jobs where we've used belts or similar to hold onto a horse.  While crisps or a packet of Polos sometimes works, this equipment will help secure a horse and reduce the chance of things going wrong. 

"We are very grateful to both Bransby Horses and Cobbs Country Store for kindly donating the equipment. We’ve talked about horse abandonment and other issues and this idea was brought up as a positive way to contain them and keep our colleagues safe. 

“The work we do in the Rural Crime Action Team is aimed at keeping our rural communities safe, preventing and investigating rural crime and protecting the welfare of animals.”

David Cobb, Cobbs Country Store, of Dalton, Newark, said: “When Bransby Horses came to me with the idea I said yes straight away, it was a fantastic idea. We are looking forward to working with Bransby Horses and Lincolnshire Police in the future on other projects.”

Pc Karen Irving is pictured with David Cobb.