What I love about being an urban sketcher is that I have many opportunities to learn from people and their work. How interesting is the job of the mounted police in the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) for example! I always thought that horses were just a decorative element in the police departments but I learnt that their work is very important and useful in the city. Mounted Police are excellent for controlling crowds in pedestrian areas: it offers the police great visibility and the people can easily see them from a distance. Also the contact between police and people is more direct in that way. The day I went to the barn to sketch Constable Coombs and Day, they were preparing the horses for an important event at Government House.
Constable Day is cleaning Dobbin for work. She and Dobbin have been working together since April 2009. Dobbin is a five year old black male Percheron, born in Ontario. Dobbin stands 17.3 hands high and weights 1850 lbs.
Fraize is a 12 year old Percheron. He is 17 hands high and weights 1912 pounds.
On June 27 2011 at 6 PM there was a reception for the Governor General in the Government House in St. John's. All the Lieutenant Governors of Canada were present there. Constable Coombs and Day with Fraize and Dobbin from the Mounted Unit guarded the entrance.
Here is a
link to the RNC if you want to know more about the Mounted Unit.
I also publish this in
www.urbansketchers.org
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