Horsing around, police style
Perhaps you’ve seen them roaming the Fan, or perhaps patrolling at the most recent First Friday. These astounding animals are not only one of the planet’s most captivating creatures, there are also some of Richmond’s finest. We take a look at what a police horse (and their police rider) do in a typical day. Oh, and it can involve pulling cars over!
While a huge swath of Richmond was busy watermelon-ing it up in Carytown on Sunday, a few of Richmond’s finest were busy horsing around elsewhere. No, they weren’t just hanging out at the river. The Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad (FRMS) held their Fun and Pleasure horse show at Dorey Park to benefit their squad, where (among other classes) riders could compete in an obstacle course against the Mounted Squad. The obstacle course consisted of various challenges Mounted Squad horse might meet, including a traffic barrier that had to be pulled, a suspicious inflatable character hiding in a trash can, a pile of bottles and trash, and bright shiny strings blowing in the wind (which turned out to be the biggest spooker of the animals).
Richmond’s Mounted Squad has been around in some form since 1894. As time has passed, RVA changed, and the mounted squad has changed with the city. So what is life like for the present-day Richmond Mounted Squad members when they aren’t competing in the ring? After watching the unit trot and canter around the ring and answer some equine-related knowledge questions from a judge (where is a horse’s croup?*), I chatted with Dawn and her dark bay partner, Beau, to see what it is like to be part of the mounted division. For example, does one have to be an experienced equestrian to be part of the squad? Is it an all-horses-all-the-time job, or do you have to do “regular” officer duties as well?
The answer to the first is no, in fact one does not have to be an experienced rider in order to try to be part of the mounted squad. “You do have to go through the Academy,” Dawn explained from atop Beau in one of the few shady spots after competing in the ring. “It’s good to be on the street for two years. Then you have to go through 240 –” (“240?” she checked with a colleague) — “280 hours of training.”
“You’re a police officer first,” says Dawn, “then the mounted unit.”
A typical day involves “Everything!” They use whistles and voice and hand commands just like other non-mounted officers that direct traffic, and they even do traffic stops.
“How do you do traffic stops from a horse?” I asked.
“Very carefully!” Dawn explained with a smile. They have radar guns, and she explained that it’s actually very similar to a regular traffic stop (aside from the horse, of course).
“Our craziest encounter would have to be the VCU riot [after the basketball game]. It was definitely the worst experience ever, being that we had bricks and bottles thrown at us. It did spook some of the horses.” She went on to say that “My partner is my horse. I ride every day. It takes a while to gain their trust.”
“Each horse has his personality. My horse isn’t a fan of big trucks and the sound they make…Being able to communicate what I want him to do and having him do it [is a challenge]. I was on the bike unit before which is totally different because I can control the bike.” When you’re on the mounted unit though, you’re working with your destrier, so it’s easy to see that it involves a different level of involvement from driving or biking.
“Every day is training,” said Dawn.
*The caboose; specifically, the “rump” area
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Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Those animals should not be used for the state. This is inhumane.
It is perfectly humane. I don’t understand where you’re coming from. You might not like the cops but they treat their animals right.
If the cops want to risk their lives, that’s all good, and I don’t care what happens to them. The critters, horses and dogs, on the other hand, don’t really have a choice. Sure, the cops treat them well- except when they’re on duty, using them as a buffer in dangerous situations.
This is cute and all, but I’ve always wondered if this wasn’t a huge a waste of money? I know they’re kind of useful for crowd control (although they admit that they were spooked when used for this), but this has to be very expensive, right? And for what?
Mounted police have several advantages over foot, motorcycle, or car. The officers sit up much higher, which gives them more visibility in crowded areas and also makes them more visible. The improvement in mobility over most terrain is significant…a horse can work in parks, on streets, on sidewalks, pretty much any area where it can fit and move. Plus, the horse can transition from place to place and clear obstacles that would wreck a car or motorcycle, and obviously a runner isn’t going to outrun a horse. In terms of crowd control, I’ve read that a mounted officer provides the same control level as (I think) four officers on foot, maybe more. So yes, there certain is a lot of utility in mounted patrols, and you can’t just keep them in a stable until there’s an emergency and then expect them to function.
Before ignorance over runs the mouth, some of you “defenders” of animals need to understand that God put these animals on earth to be used for the benefit of mankind. Dogs and horses are an invaluable asset to law enforcement and military agencies. WOLF, you say you don’t care what happens to the law enforcement officers. Wait until you have a break in or an accident, a violent “something” that happens to you or your loved ones. THEN YOU will be yelling for the police. They are in law enforcement because they care about people and they want their part of the world to be a safer place. YOU may not care, but there is a vast number of people who do.
AS for those of you that don’t see the training as valuable, we are posse and we train, although we don’t carry guns and aren’t put into dangerous situations. The training makes for MUCH SOUNDER-MINDED animals. DOGS, they are invaluable. If you want to get in a stew about NOT FAIR, then do something constructive and adopt or donate to feed all the strays of the world and all the neglected of the world.
There are a lot of volunteer units, along with actual police/sheriff dept. owned animals.
Remember, you really need facts before you insert foot into mouth. It tends to show the ignorance of the person talking. HATE THAT. I’ve done enough of that in my younger years so I am guessing that you who speak ignorance are young and don’t have much experience with life yet. Enjoy your youthful thoughtlessness before you grow up and realize just how foolish the brain’s thoughts can sound when the mouth engages without forethought.