This year for the first time ever, the police used a mounted patrol for keeping order at Jukola. One team was Jenni Yli-Ikkelä on her horse Luigi. Jenni is a member of the arranging club, and she works as a mounted police. The second team was Juha Paananen on the horse Ali. Horses can be trained for this demanding task from the age of 5-6 years, and the training takes about a year. The horses must be special; not every horse is suitable for this demanding task.
The mounted police teams started their day in Ruskeasuo in Helsinki at 15.00. The horses familiarized themselves with the competition center a week ago. After the visit to Jukola the horses had another task at the market place in Porvoo jointly with the Porvoo police forces. After a long day’s work among people the horses then went home to their stables in Ruskeasuo, from where on Sunday they begin their well-deserved two weeks holiday.
Maybe next year we will start with horseback orienteering, to complement MTB orienteering.
Picture Ilkka Metsälä Text Hinni Kress.