MEET SARATOGA’S
Mounted Patrol
WRITTEN BY
MEGIN POTTER PHOTO BY TRACEY BUYCE PHOTOGRAPHY
Pictured left to right: Officer Aaron Moore on Apollo, Sergeant Aaron Benware & Officer Glenn Barrett on King Tut.
Horses put Saratoga in a special position to keep the peace.
“Several police departments around the country have done away with their mounted patrol units. We’re the last of a legacy,” said Officer Aaron Moore. Education Essentials “You really have to have your wits about you. Your horse is an extension of you. When you sense your horse is tense or nervous, you must be your most relaxed and reassuring,” said Officer Moore. Crowd and traffic control, community relations and prevention of street crimes is the mission of the Saratoga Springs Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Unit. Horses and officers undergo a 7-week training course and complete a yearly desensitization session. “By the time the Officers graduate mounted school, they have formed a bond of trust with the horses. They are well-trained to deal with the sights and sounds of a busy downtown,” said Sergeant Benware. "The horses’ posture reveals how excited they are to go to work and they stand taller in anticipation," said Officer Moore. Moore had experience with Western-style riding and helped with the horses on the force before joining the unit in 2014. Streetwise A dynamic duo when they are paired up downtown – the black Percheron draft horse, Officer King Tut is ridden by Officer Glenn Barrett, and Officer Apollo, a chestnut Standardbred who graduated last year, is ridden by Officer Moore. The horses look at and nudge each other. When one goes, the other joins him. There’s no pecking order – they work as a team. 40 | Equicurean | July 2018
“During a fight, I can give a verbal command from my horse and (snap) people are on their way without further issue,” said Officer Moore. The horses’ gentle yet powerful form of intimidation encourages people to disperse. “It’s amazing the difference in how people react when I’m on foot or in the patrol car compared to when I’m on a horse.” On Common Ground A typical workday means a six-hour shift for the team. Criss-crossing Broadway downtown, they chill-out in the shade of Fingerpaint’s overhang and by N. Fox Jewelers. Their shoes (which are replaced every five to seven weeks in the summer) are equipped with Borium spikes to securely grip the pavement as they traverse the hills on Lake Avenue and Caroline Street. Farmers Hardware has water outside for the horses to drink from if they don’t want the water in their trailer. At Congress Park there is a hose to use, but on a hot day, they wade through the creek bed there to keep cool. “I like to joke that King Tut and Apollo are better cared for than most people’s family pets,” said Sergeant Benware. Inspiring a sense of wonder, the horses are happy to pose for pictures - even nose-to-nose with Saratoga’s famous horse statues or even once, with an English bulldog puppy. “People just thought it was the greatest thing. I get so many firsttimers who have never been around a horse. They’ve seen them on T.V., at the racetrack or from a distance but this is their first interaction. They’re completely enamored,” said Officer Moore. saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com