Police Horses
According to a documentary on N24, our News Channel,
Police Horses give the effiency of the police force a noticable boost. But they
also are a risk factor that is difficult to assess.
Operational areas are various; the warrant of piece
and order at mass events such as football games, as well as the clearance of
streets before the carriages of a carnival move, or
demonstrations.
One police officer on horseback can replace several "normal" officers on foot. According to the Police in Düsseldorf-Germany the horses serve a preventative purpose by have a discouraging effect without actually frightening people.
Ha! I remember my first encounter with a police horse! I was like 12 and a real big city kid. No time spent on a farm, not seen any horses ever before - well, maybe one of these ponies where you can sit on and get lead around in a small circle. So we were at the "Olympiastadion" in Berlin and I saw this really huge dark brown horse directly in front of me. That was while crossing under a bridge - I was so frightened, because it was so huge! But now I luv 'em! The bigger, the better! Embarrassing to be such a townie...
Not every horse is fit for this kind of duty. The average police horse await 15 years of duty on the road. These big fellows undergo a special training over 24 months when they reach 3 or 4 years of age, together with their allotted officers (okay, the officers are older). After getting to know each other, braking in and dressage they have to train in the riding hall with little ballons spread on the floor that burst when the hooves step on them. This is one of the ways to get them used to loud sharp noises like bullet shots. Running radios and interference crackling are similar to the communication devices the officers will use later. Other methods include passing fluttering flags, walking through walls of paper and jumping over low lines of fire. Young and unexperienced horses that are frightened learn to overcome their fear by being shown the trick from more experienced horses whom they follow sooner or later. Horse and Officer develop a bond and the horses learn to trust their rider, after all they are supposed to withstand fear and risk their lifes if trained well.
But horses are flight animals, and accidents happen even with the most experienced and calm individuals.
[Picture taken and copyrighted by Gottfried Stoppel; found with full article - read full article in german: http://www.i-st.net/~buendnis/tmp/temp1.html ]
In 2000 at an easter march at the european central of command of the US force (Eucom) in Vaihingen a participant of the demonstration was severely injured by a police horse that bucked and kicked him in the stomach. The trained and on this day not remarkable nervous animal reacted unforeseen and the policeman was taken by surprise, left unable to hold back his partner. But although another participant of this demo provoked this reaction by grabbing its lead, it is hard for the police's critics to put off with this excuse. It became part of a complaint about police incompetence, mistakes rein performance of the mission and not last, police brutality.
The incident suggests that responsibility is to be taken serious from everyone. Security personal who undergo high stress situations are already a risk factor when their mental or emotional stability is wrongly assessed as fit. A panicking horse is of course not what anyone wants to see in the middle of a group of people. If the emphasis lies on the good relationship between rider and horse, the rider should carefully watch his friend and helper before starting duty, as the hardest training can't prepare you for everything. If the rider knows his horse he can predict its daily "fitness" to some degree. Here I agree with Norbert Hahn, Chief of the "Riding Squad" and I think that in this case that was done responsible and it was unlucky coincidences coming together. Possibly nothing had happened if the horse hadn't been grabbed by a stranger. After all most confrontations of policemen on horseback and the public end rather unspectacular, but I'll keep my eye on it as I just spent a few hours with this subject now.
One police officer on horseback can replace several "normal" officers on foot. According to the Police in Düsseldorf-Germany the horses serve a preventative purpose by have a discouraging effect without actually frightening people.
Ha! I remember my first encounter with a police horse! I was like 12 and a real big city kid. No time spent on a farm, not seen any horses ever before - well, maybe one of these ponies where you can sit on and get lead around in a small circle. So we were at the "Olympiastadion" in Berlin and I saw this really huge dark brown horse directly in front of me. That was while crossing under a bridge - I was so frightened, because it was so huge! But now I luv 'em! The bigger, the better! Embarrassing to be such a townie...
Not every horse is fit for this kind of duty. The average police horse await 15 years of duty on the road. These big fellows undergo a special training over 24 months when they reach 3 or 4 years of age, together with their allotted officers (okay, the officers are older). After getting to know each other, braking in and dressage they have to train in the riding hall with little ballons spread on the floor that burst when the hooves step on them. This is one of the ways to get them used to loud sharp noises like bullet shots. Running radios and interference crackling are similar to the communication devices the officers will use later. Other methods include passing fluttering flags, walking through walls of paper and jumping over low lines of fire. Young and unexperienced horses that are frightened learn to overcome their fear by being shown the trick from more experienced horses whom they follow sooner or later. Horse and Officer develop a bond and the horses learn to trust their rider, after all they are supposed to withstand fear and risk their lifes if trained well.
But horses are flight animals, and accidents happen even with the most experienced and calm individuals.
[Picture taken and copyrighted by Gottfried Stoppel; found with full article - read full article in german: http://www.i-st.net/~buendnis/tmp/temp1.html ]
In 2000 at an easter march at the european central of command of the US force (Eucom) in Vaihingen a participant of the demonstration was severely injured by a police horse that bucked and kicked him in the stomach. The trained and on this day not remarkable nervous animal reacted unforeseen and the policeman was taken by surprise, left unable to hold back his partner. But although another participant of this demo provoked this reaction by grabbing its lead, it is hard for the police's critics to put off with this excuse. It became part of a complaint about police incompetence, mistakes rein performance of the mission and not last, police brutality.
The incident suggests that responsibility is to be taken serious from everyone. Security personal who undergo high stress situations are already a risk factor when their mental or emotional stability is wrongly assessed as fit. A panicking horse is of course not what anyone wants to see in the middle of a group of people. If the emphasis lies on the good relationship between rider and horse, the rider should carefully watch his friend and helper before starting duty, as the hardest training can't prepare you for everything. If the rider knows his horse he can predict its daily "fitness" to some degree. Here I agree with Norbert Hahn, Chief of the "Riding Squad" and I think that in this case that was done responsible and it was unlucky coincidences coming together. Possibly nothing had happened if the horse hadn't been grabbed by a stranger. After all most confrontations of policemen on horseback and the public end rather unspectacular, but I'll keep my eye on it as I just spent a few hours with this subject now.
Posted: Fr - Oktober 17, 2003 at 03:28 Uhr
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Published On: Okt 16, 2004 02:18 Uhr
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Published On: Okt 16, 2004 02:18 Uhr