What is the purpose of the mounted police in NYC?

[Acsenray]

@Kozmik

Many cities have the sherrif ride horses for this reason. Horses are still used *because * of the fact that they are not common and so they are more effective then they would be if every police officer rode a horse. Think about it. Would you be more influenced by seeing millions of police in cars, bikes, and on the street or millions of police in cars, bikes, and on the street and a few police officers on horse?

Nitpick: But cities generally don’t have sheriffs. Counties have sheriffs.

[friedo]

@acsenray

Nitpick: But cities generally don’t have sheriffs. Counties have sheriffs.

New York City, used to being the exception in just about everything, has a sheriff. He doesn’t have a horse, though.

[CapnPitt]

My two cents on the crowd control:

Anyone who’s ever been on Bourbon Street at Mardi Gras knows that the crowd is impassable. You simply go where the crowd moves you. One of the most impressive sights I ever saw was a column on mounted cops part that sea of humanity with no difficulty and in no time flat. I think us city folk forget how big horses really are…and we want to get out of their way.

[Broomstick]

@Hello Again

Broomstick wrote:
bicycles and motorcycles can’t leap over 6 foot fences, but horses can.

Er, not many of them, and I doubt the officer would make it to the other side. The world record for jumping is around 7 feet 8 inches and it takes a uniquely skilled rider and horse to achieve that. Very, very few horses will ever jump 6 feet.
Here’s a picture of three-time olympian Kathy Kushner jumping 7’2", so you can see how absurdly high that is.
http://home.earthlink.net/~kathykusner/horsenewnew.gif

I salute the riding skills of the NYPD but over a 6’ fence any one of them would be toast. I think the park benches in “True Lies” were probably about 2’6" tall and to do that with skill is no small feat for most people.

So I exaggerated a wee bit.

However, jumping 2-3 foot obstacles IS within the abilities of most horses the size of police horses, which have a definite minimum size.

Basically, anything the average human on foot can go over rapidly a horse can go over quickly as well.

[Hello_Again]

LOL, of course jumping 2-3 ft is within the abilities of the horses (I think it was multiple gold medalist Reiner Klimke who said “even a cow can jump a 4 ft fence out of its pasture.”). I gently suggest it might be beyond the limit of their riders’ training. Also, for the male officers, somewhat painful. NYPD uses a modified McClellan saddle that is not intended for jumping and has a high front, check it out at this site:
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/html/transportation/vehicles.html

Not to mention, very damaging to the horse in the long term. Jumping onto pavement seems like a pretty sketchy, dangerous idea – a horse could slip on landing and hurt itself badly – even with the high-grip shoes police horses get for working on pavement. I’m not disputing it could maybe, perhaps, happen from time to time. I just don’t believe this could be a serious rationale for the use of mounted officers.

I love seeing mounted officers in the city. They have such groovy uniforms (I looove the caped raincoat) and the horses have had such an interesting level of training. If you catch them in a quiet moment the officers usually love to talk to you about their horses.

[manhattan]

This is an eductational thread. I always thought the purpose of the horses was to get the cops laid.

[Scylla]

I had the pleasure of owning a retired police horse. The level of training these animals receive is truly incredible. You could do whatever you want around this horse and it wouldn’t bat an eye.

If you put the reins on the ground the horse considered itself “ground tied,” and would not move no matter what.

She posessed superior dressage training. Dressage is basically total control over the horse’s every movement so that horse and rider are essentially one body. It is a truly awesome thing to experience.

She had what I called the “intimidation gait.” She could slow canter at the pace of a walk with her head curled in such a way that it broadcast “Do not fuck with me and get out of my way” on such a primal level that compliance would be involuntary.

I kind of figured that on the back of that horse, if I were a cop, I would be able to patrol a huge amount of space continuously, catch anybody I want (since I could go forty miles an hour,) beat up anybody on the planet without effort, hook up with supermodels etc etc etc.

Put me on the back of that horse agains and Say “Scylla, there’s a rowdy party of 50 drunken Hell’s angels looking for trouble. Go get them” and I felt pretty confident that in a minute or two I could have them running for their lives while screaming like school girls.

You can see why this might be useful?

[Little_Nemo]

And what happens to NYPD horses when they retire?

No, they don’t get turned into glue or dog food. They go to Wallkill Correctional Facility in Ulster County which manages a retirement farm for horses from the state and city.

[Cardinal]

While attending college in Cambridge, Mass, my dad went to see the commotion of Lincoln Rockefeller leading Nazis in protest over the showing of “The Hiding Place”. He said it was chaotic, but when police horses started highstepping in the gutter, people got the heck back on the sidewalks, and NOW.

[Askia]

@Scylla

…a walk with her head curled in such a way that it broadcast “Do not fuck with me and get out of my way” on such a primal level that compliance would be involuntary.

May I just say… I just loved your turn of phrase here?

[Nametag]

@Cardinal

While attending college in Cambridge, Mass, my dad went to see the commotion of Lincoln Rockefeller leading Nazis in protest over the showing of “The Hiding Place”. He said it was chaotic, but when police horses started highstepping in the gutter, people got the heck back on the sidewalks, and NOW.

You mean George Lincoln Rockwell?

[Chairman_Pow]

@Kozmik

Many cities have the sherrif ride horses for this reason. Horses are still used *because * of the fact that they are not common and so they are more effective then they would be if every police officer rode a horse. Think about it. Would you be more influenced by seeing millions of police in cars, bikes, and on the street or millions of police in cars, bikes, and on the street and a few police officers on horse?

Well, if you’ve done something that ends up with millions of cops coming after you at once, you probably won’t notice the horses.

[ouryL]

Because of the considerable number of politicians, they have an abiding need for horseshit, ergo…