Mounted posse used for crowd control
The horse is one of law enforcement's most useful resources. People greet and respond to not only the horses, but to the officers who ride them. People are often amazed at the level of training and ability this team holds. No matter the activity, whether it's community policing, crowd control, or search and rescue operations, mounted units are a vital part of today's law enforcement. The challenging training that takes place behind the scenes provides the officers with the level of knowledge and success necessary to get the job done.
Philosophy of Training
Training starts off with creating a connection between the rider and horse. The police officer must understand the dynamics of this partnership, which in turn strengthens the bond between rider and horse. When this is established it creates a skilled and positive team. The alliance of horse and rider becomes a pair united working and playing together. As training progresses, the officer learns to work with the horse, and not against the horse. If you understand how your equine comrade hears, sees, thinks and reacts to any condition, you can then train to be a trustworthy professional team.
Techniques
Mountedpolice.org says civilians are trained using the same methods employed by successful mounted police officers throughout the world. This style of riding is called the "Military Seat". Recognizing that in order to get the horse to perform the rider must give one or more signals for the horse to comprehend the exercise. Basically, there must be a coherent and incisive instruction given to communicate what the rider is asking from the horse. The techniques used to teach this are a combination of weight, balance, light hand signals and body position.
Basic Training
According to the Mounted Police Academy, Inc., the new mounted officer begins with a course that teaches the basics of mounted patrol equitation, equine anatomy and confirmation, equine psychology, basic and tactical formations for crowd control, sensory and obstacle training of the horse, VIP security, and mounted firearms training. The officer and horse will learn to negotiate obstacles such as barricades, vehicles, bridges, teeter-totters and hanging tarps. It is crucial that a rider be able to control every movement that the horse makes in order to direct his mount successfully through these obstacles.
Sensory Training
Obstacle training is the use of "physical" barriers as opposed to "perceived" barriers. The use of smoke, noise, flares and fumes are used to present new auditory, touch, visual and smell challenges for the horse to overcome. Once these new obstacles are introduced, with proper training they are combined with the physical obstacles. This is done to improve both the rider's and mount's trust and proficiency with each other.
Continual Training
After acquiring all these new skills, the new horse is ridden along with an experienced horse in traffic around the city and inner suburban areas or any place where he is likely to be used at a later date. Such training can take several months and must be done patiently. If they start getting skittish or react in a negative way, the decision has to be made whether to keep training them. Officers are compelled to stay focused in their daily routines because the horse will require training on a daily basis.
Tags: crowd control, between rider, between rider horse, horse will, Mounted Police, rider horse