Mounted unit

A day in the life of a police groom

Making sure our horses are fit, happy and healthy is the priority of the police grooms. We asked three of the team to describe a typical day to give you a better understanding about what’s involved:

Early shift

6.30am: I start the day by chatting with the night staff and team leader and check the day’s duties. Then I muck out the loose boxes and stalls - making sure all feed mangers, waterers and boskins are cleaned.

8am: I start to groom and turn out any horses that the officers need for their early patrol.

9am: any spare horses go on the horsewalker to be exercised. Alternatively, they’ll be lunged or schooled.

10.30am: we take a break for half an hour to get some lunch.

12.15pm: I do general jobs - things like refilling haynets, grooming horses or more exercising. At this time we usually give horses their lunchtime hay/haylage and skip out.

For the rest of the afternoon I turn in horses from work or the paddocks and do some more general work: skipping out, refilling haynets, trimming up, bathing and pulling manes and tails. It’s important that horses look the best they can at all times.

2.30pm: before leaving I share any relevant information with the late shift.

Late shift

2.30pm: I help the early staff finish skipping out the stables and filling haynets. Once that’s done, we have a talk to get an idea of the day’s events. Then I groom the horses and feed them.

4pm: we give the horses more hay and skip out. Once that’s done, I turn the horses in from patrol. This means washing manes and tails, trimming legs and pulling manes and tails. That takes up to two hours.

7pm: we start to clean the horses' equipment and give them more hay, skipping out and swilling the stables. When that’s finished we give late feeds to the horses. A final skip out is done before lights out. I finally leave around 11.15pm.

Night shift

10.30pm: I arrive and discuss any issues with the late staff. I help to unload any horses that have been on a late shift and then turn them in for the evening. I then start to strip, clean and polish the saddles and bridles to make sure they look their best.

During the night: I regularly check on the horses to make sure they’re OK. I continue to clean the kits and tidy the kit room.

5am: I start to get the haynets and feeds ready for the morning. Before I leave at

6.30am: I give the horses hay and their breakfast.