Below is the vid from the article I posted about Columbus' mounted patrol - interesting the methods employed to prepare the horses for unusual, unruly conditions. From the article:
The horses also are great at clearing paths for emergency vehicles that might need to get through a large crowd.
“Seeing a 2,000-pound animal coming at you gets your attention,” Forsythe said. “Most people don’t want to get too close.”
The horses have been used for riot control during protests, as well as helping control crowds at Halloween celebrations at Ohio University in Athens, and at Mirror Lake celebrations at Ohio State University during Michigan Week.
Police Horses: Taking It to the Streets
Selecting Horses
You will find that most units have an older mount that they consider their “backbone”–a horse that has “been around the block” and steadies the other horses in difficult situations as well as trains the newest recruits. The problem facing most police units is that they have to take horses that have had other jobs first, then try to make them into police horses. Most of these horses come with physical problems that limited them in their previous jobs. Some are ex-racehorses or performance horses that didn’t have the speed/ability for the track or show ring, ended up with injuries that precluded racing/competing, or just got too old to compete or were not suitable for breeding (such as geldings).
None of these physical limitations actually preclude them from being excellent police mounts; it is the mental ability to handle the work that is the first limiting factor. The “sweetest” horse in the world might get tired of having people constantly trying to pet his nose. (Police horses can’t be allowed to nip; no hand-feeding for them!) The calmest mount you can imagine might become uncontrollable in the midst of a traffic jam or at a police scene with sirens blaring. The most solid horse on the trail string might not stand for gunfire or crowds of people surrounding him or being behind a band in a parade.
Many units use Quarter Horses, which are known for their easy gaits, gentle disposition, and versatility. Quarter Horses also are the most populous breed, making them easy to find anywhere in the country. Their size can be a plus and a limitation.
Officers want to be able to mount and dismount easily in any situation, but they also want a horse big enough to carry the weight of a large man who doesn’t dwarf the horse, and to present a formidable presence in a crowd situation. Some units only choose horses that are
a minimum of 16 hands high; other units don’t care about size as long as the horse is physically and mentally capable of doing the job.
Some other choices that are becoming very popular as police mounts are
draft crosses. While these horses have been used for a variety of purposes over the years, including fox hunting, shows, and pleasure, they have become more plentiful in the past decade because the pregnant mare urine (PMU) industry that provides the basic ingredient for women’s hormone replacement therapy breeds them.
Proponents of draft crosses cite their greater weight-carrying capabilities, while noting that many mounted police officers are men who weigh in excess of 200 pounds. The draft side offers a calm, trainable disposition with large, sturdy bone structure and good feet. The cross–whether Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred–often gives a little more “spark” to the draft disposition.
Bands march past with trumpets blaring and drums banging, and the horse hardly twitches an ear. A mother pushes her baby stroller under the neck of the horse unknowingly while asking for directions, and the horse merely glances down, never moving his feet. Trucks whiz past the horse, inches from...
thehorse.com
From wiki:
The
United States Border Patrol had 200 horses in 2005. Most of these are employed along the
U.S.-Mexico border. In
Arizona, these animals are fed special processed feed pellets so that their wastes do not spread non-native plants in the national parks and wildlife areas they patrol.
[11]
Many cities in the United States have mounted units, New York having one of the largest with 55 horses as of 2016,
[12] but numerous mounted units were disbanded or downsized in the 2010s.
[13] For example, units in
Boston and
San Diego were disbanded by 2011, while New York City’s mounted unit was reduced considerably over the last decade with 79 police officers and 60 horses in 2011 – down from the 130 officers and 125 horses it had before the downsizing.
[1] Philadelphia's mounted police unit was disbanded in 2004, but reinstated in 2011 with four horses from the disbanding unit of
Newark, New Jersey. The Houston, Texas Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit was started in 1983 and now consists of 1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants and 24 officers. It has become increasingly well known due to the decision to remove the shoes of all its 38 mounted horses and embrace the concept of naturalizing their horses' diet and care.
[14][15]
That last rather contradicts what the previous article states:
The feet of some horses–especially Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds–can be a limiting factor. Police horses work hours each day on blacktop, get limited turnout, and usually have shoes equipped with traction devices (Borium or some other substance). While most of their work is standing or walking, they sometimes have to move at speed on treacherous, uneven, unforgiving surfaces.
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