Metropolitan Police horses are being given special training after “getting spooked” by colourful road markings such as rainbow crossings.
The force said it had not anticipated the horses to become flustered by the bright colours, prompting officers to get them “used to” the signs “before riding them out in public”.
The training would “eliminate risk to [the] public, motorists, or distress to our horses”, they added.
Pedestrian crossings painted in rainbow colours have been installed across London to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
But the Met Office took to social media on Thursday to say that “some of the horses are getting spooked by the bright colours”.
The Met Police Taskforce said in a tweet: “Something we hadn’t expected was that some of the horses are getting spooked by the bright colours of the Colourful Crossings project and other road markings in Central London.
“To enable us to ride and patrol safely we had training versions installed with help from @gevekomarkings who donated our new Bright Training crossings.
“We can get the horses used to them before riding them out in public.”
Something we hadn't expected was that some of the Horses are getting Spooked by the bright colours of the Colourful Crossings project and other road markings in Central London.
— Met Police Taskforce (@MetTaskforce) March 30, 2022
To enable us to ride and patrol safely we had training versions installed. contd.. pic.twitter.com/epeSKWUk1d
With the help of a local company, some road markings including the rainbow crossings, have been added into the horses’ training centre, at no extra cost, the Met said.
Officers shared pictures of the horses learning how to navigate the colour crossings during their training.
The Met said: “A misconception is that horses only see in black and white. They may not see colour the way we do, but they are not ‘colour blind’.
“Therefore, the differing shades and patterns of a colourful crossing could suggest an obstacle in the road, causing a horse to shy from something that we, as humans do not see.
“This eliminates risk to public, motorists or distress to our horses.”
One Twitter user blasted the decision as “a complete waste of the five officers time and taxpayers money”.
Others suggested that the horses were being forced to undergo diversity training.
A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police told The Daily Telegraph that “contrary to some speculation online, we haven’t sent our horses on diversity training”.
He added: “A ‘spooked’ horse can cause danger to road users and riders and we noticed that some of the new markings on London’s roads - such as blue cycle pathways, or other coloured symbols, such as rainbow crossings - were catching them by surprise.
“To make their training more realistic, we’ve painted them onto the roads at our training centre. This was done with the generous support of a road marking company at no additional cost.”
