Two police constables noticed a couple of men behaving suspiciously in Pontcanna Fields, Cardiff, recently. On foot they would have had little chance of catching them, but being mounted on two horses (Bodie and Rubin) they soon rounded up the suspects. As well as giving beat officers a turn of speed, horses, as we report today, help police make closer contact with local people. After all, horses, unlike most patrol cars, have names, and people can easily talk to the policemen on their backs. There is also something smart and disciplined, though not necessarily martial, about a horse. Policemen on foot can look shabby, festooned with kit and seldom these days dignified with a helmet, but horses and their tack must be kept groomed and in order daily. It would be a false economy to cut back on horses, when police are proving that, mounted, they can get their man.

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