Scottsdale Police Mounted Unit trains new horse for dealing with large crowds and loud noise
Scottsdale Police's Mounted Unit introduces new horse
Newt is the newest addition to the Scottsdale Police's Mounted Unit and he is getting trained to deal with large crowds and loud noises through various training techniques. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen has more.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - They have to deal with loud music, large crowds and lots of strangers petting them.
We're talking about police horses and we got an inside look on how they get ready for rowdy events.
Big picture view:
The Scottsdale Police mounted unit has been around for decades, but trying to find the right horses to do everything they need to do can be a real challenge.
That’s why they’ve changed something recently.
Before Newt can train, he has to get ready.
"We’re gonna check all four feet," said Scottsdale Police Officer Lottie Kimball said.
After that Kimball brushes and cleans him.
"Every horse's outfit has their own pad and their own saddle to make sure it’s a proper fit for them," says Kimball.
The mounted unit has four officers and six horses.
Dig deeper:
Four-year-old Newt is the newest. He’s outfitted with a badge and even flashing lights.
Police Sergeant Greg Mastin says they have to train for everything.
"Their natural instinct to run away from things that scare them. So we exposed them to, and have them do work in those crowds, in those entertainment districts, stuff with the music and the lights. They have to be able to understand that and not freak out," said Mastin.
Newt is trotted outside and into the dirt to train.
The focus at first: ignore the noises and the touching.
Even dragging a bag over their face, shaking cans, any distraction to train the horse to just focus on their job.
They use a large ball to simulate moving a crowd.
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What they're saying:
"They get used to it bouncing back and touching them, which is very similar to what it would be like walking through a crowd," said Kimball. "People will be touching against them, possibly pushing against them."
This is one of the last mounted units in the Valley.
With so many Scottsdale events, they say they’re helpful in large crowds and community engagement.
"A cop in a car is not as approachable as a cop horse and that’s always kind of cool," said Mastin. "Then you’ll be able to go around and talk to the kids at the schools, in the libraries and then again, you know effecting this with crowd management is perfect because we can see over the top of the crowd."
But finding horses is hard.
The backstory:
"For the longest time it was Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, word-of-mouth, you know, any of those things. Somebody has a horse for sale, let’s go take a look. Nine times out of 10 the horse was not something suitable for us," said Mastin.
That’s when they teamed up with Asbury University in Kentucky to find Newt.
Students train the horses for this work from birth.
They’re getting two more horses this year and another next year, fully trained.
"The only thing they’ve known their whole life are these horses," said Mastin. "It's the stuff we need them to do. So they’re kind of already light years ahead of just getting a horse off the street that may have had some bad experiences or not the best training."
What's next:
Toward the end of the day's training, they set up construction cones for Newt.
"If there’s a gate or a fence or a crowd of people that we need them to move through, we don’t want them to shy away. We want them to continue with forward motion," said Mastin.
He marched on without a problem, ready for the next event in the Valley as one of the last mounted patrols we have.
Local perspective:
Even the location of the horse barn is part of their training. It’s loud there near WestWorld off Loop 101. It's also on the flight path of Scottsdale Airport as well.
So these horses are undergoing training 24/7.