LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster City Police welcomed the newest member of its Mounted and K-9 Unit in November 2022 and now he’s taking to the streets.
Angus the horse is an eight-year-old Percheron and weighs almost 2,000 pounds. He’s also six-and-a-half feet tall. He’s now the youngest of two other horses active in the unit.
The only thing bigger than Angus’s appetite, is his personality.
“There’s never a typical day, you never know what you’re walking into when you’re walking into the barn that day,” said Scott McDonald, an officer of for Lancaster City Police Mounted and K-9 Unit.
McDonald is also the primary trainer and scouter for the unit. He travels up and down the east coast when looking for new recruits.
He discovered Angus after the horse lost a previous job as a carriage and cart horse at Mackinac Island, Michigan due to COVID-19.
Angus was chosen due to his calmness and experience working with people. His formal training began shortly after arriving at the Lancaster City Police Mounted Stable and Quarters.
“We usually start out with just equitation, riding lead-line or riding the horse, walk, trot, canter,” McDonald explained.
The purpose of the exercises is to build trust between McDonald and Angus, something his breed does naturally in the wild. This is to ensure the rider's safety as well as to prevent the horse from reacting negatively to a stimulus they perceive as harmful.
“His would be to turn and run from something that’s scary to him. So, we have to build that bond with them as well, so if I’m calm on his back, he’ll calm down just like if there was another horse there that was calm,” McDonald described.
McDonald told FOX43 that Percherons are common amongst mounted law enforcement divisions for multiple reasons. Due to their size and height, Percheron can act as a deterrent to prevent any crimes from taking place in the area by posing as an intimidating presence.
The breed is also used for emergency medical purposes. McDonald recalled moments when he was able to find people in large crowds who collapsed due to heat exhaustion.
“We just sit higher, can see over traffic, can see over people’s heads in a crowd. And we want to be seen. So, it’s not always about arresting people. It’s about being seen and helping people out when they need it,” McDonald said.
He also expects Angus to help the community feel more comfortable to approach officers while on patrol, even for menial reasons such as asking for directions.
“The horses are a huge icebreaker for the public, you know? People that would not necessarily want to talk to a police officer, they will come up and approach and want to know about my horse,” McDonald said.
Angus might not always be found on the streets of downtown Lancaster. The Mounted Unit often visits schools and other organizations to teach children about how horses and canines are used by the police.
“We do a lot of school programs, 4-h groups, boy scout groups. Either come here for barn tours or we go out to the schools,” McDonald said.