United States Park Police - Horse Mounted Patrol

Horse Mounted Patrol

The horse-mounted unit was established in 1934, and is one of America's oldest police equestrian organizations in the United States.

Horse-mounted patrols are assigned to federal parks in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco. These nationally acclaimed officers and mounts are highly respected for crowd management techniques. They also function to maintain order during major demonstrations and special events and have been transported to other sites in the National Park system to control demonstrations.

The first use of horses by the United States Park Police followed the general trial-and-error method that prevailed throughout much of police work in those days. Rock Creek Park, a 1,900 acres (770 ha) tract of heavily wooded terrain lying in the heart of Washington, D.C. is interspersed with equestrian trails that required special policing methods for which the horse is ideally suited. Large park areas with open spaces, picnic areas, ball fields and other activities were soon found to be places where horses could patrol more effectively than foot officers or motorized vehicles. Because of this, stables were erected and new horse-mounted boundaries were established.

The nation's capital hosts many civic functions each year. Some of them are annual events and some have a national and international character, such as the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Christmas Pageant of Peace and the presidential inauguration. During the 1960s and the 1970s, the horses, in addition to being an attractive unit for display in parades, were found to be highly effective in crowd and traffic management at these functions. The horses were properly trained and conditioned to maneuver in crowds of people and through heavily traveled roadways so they would not endanger the public, themselves, or other riders.

The U.S. Park Police Horse Mounted Training Staff receives numerous requests from outside agencies to provide them with training. This agency has assisted the U.S. Army, U.S. Secret Service as well as police departments from Maryland, New York, West Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, New Mexico and many others. Instructors are regularly requested to provide training at police seminars as mounted colloquiums held throughout the United States. The United States Park Police Horse Mounted Unit offers the 400-hour remount training free of charge to outside law enforcement agencies.