The Rural Development Administration (RDA) announced on December 16 that it had delivered two domestically bred ‘RDA riding horses’ to the mounted police unit of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Police Agency. This marks the first instance of the RDA-developed riding horses, which have been developed since 2009, being utilized in the public safety sector.
The mounted police unit of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Police Agency selected suitable horses for public duties by evaluating their response to external stimuli such as noise and their obedience. The selected RDA riding horses will be deployed in public service tasks with high public awareness, such as patrolling tourist sites, guiding traffic order, and ensuring regional safety.
The RDA riding horses are domestically bred by combining the robust physique of Jeju horses with the body shape of Thoroughbreds. They have a height of 145-150 cm, making them easy for young and female riders to mount. Their coat colors are fixed to black and black-and-white patterns, which are preferred by riders.
The National Institute of Animal Science plans to collect operational data on RDA riding horses in public settings through this distribution. By accumulating behavioral data of horses responding to various field situations such as urban noise, crowd reactions, and patrol environments, the institute aims to scientifically verify their utility in the public safety sector and expand their use to therapeutic riding and interaction therapy fields in the future.