Of course, it’s not exactly a fair competition, with them being horses and all. They're ridden by the three members of the DPD Mounted Patrol.
Officer Ron Jensen rides both Maximus and seven-year-old Orei, who is still learning how to be a police horse. “He's a really good boy,” Jensen says. “He's so good, in fact, that we put him in the Nuggets parade just recently.”
Jensen and officers Emily Herbst and Aaron Carlson represent the entirety of Denver’s horseback unit, and they spend plenty of time keeping watch over sporting events, parades and other activities in the Mile High City where it’s helpful to have a riding police presence.
People love seeing the DPD steeds, the three report, and much of their work is about meeting the community, being visible to deter crime, and reaching places normal patrol cars just can’t go.
“Decades and decades ago, horses were the primary means of transportation, so they were used for everything,” Herbst explains. “They were used for everyday patrol work and all different types of police work. … Horses are still really relevant for going on bike paths or walking trails, or even through tighter areas in between houses or alleyways. Not only that, but we're much more visible than a patrol car.”
The Mounted Patrol towers over even the largest of crowds, letting people know someone is always watching. This current iteration has existed since 1984. Back in the 1930s, as cars were becoming more common, the unit was disbanded. But in the 1980s, officers worked to bring it back, citing its usefulness for the community.
They were successful, and the unit has existed at its barn in southwest Denver ever since.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, though, with the city considering eliminating the unit again in 2004 because of budget cuts. It ultimately survived thanks to Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown and an uptick in donations from the public, who’d heard about the potential end of the Mounted Patrol.
The unit is still largely funded through community donations via the Denver Police Foundation. Although the city pays the officers’ salaries along with veterinary bills and other necessities, equipment like saddles — and even the horses themselves — are paid for through donor support.
Denver’s squad is one of the last full-time mounted patrol units in Colorado. In most other police departments with horses, Jensen notes, the animals are owned privately by the officers and called in under special circumstances.
“It's a dying breed,” Jensen says. “Denver Police is really carrying on that tradition. We're lucky.”
The officers and their horses work four ten-hour shifts, then have three days off in a cycle. They don’t go out in extreme heat or cold — especially if conditions are icy — in order to protect the horses.
Like other DPD units, the Mounted Patrol's primary function is to patrol in addition to working community events and leading parades.
April through October is the unit's busiest time of year, with parades, back-to-school events and the general warm weather meaning more people are out and about. The patrol spends all of January at the National Western Stock Show and leads the opening parade each year. It’s one of Carlson and Herbst’s favorite parades.
“It's really evolved much like regular policing, where it's evolved from crime fighting to really being guardians and community policing and community outreach,” Jensen says. “We're very approachable, and people can see us from miles away, but also criminals can see us from miles away.”
The group spends a lot of time on the 16th Street Mall or in Civic Center Park, Herbst says. The officers decorate the horses’ hooves with glitter for parades and try to make it to Empower Field before every Broncos home game. They need to purchase more orange glitter for the season, but they’re all stocked up on blue.
During tailgates before Broncos games, people can get a bit rowdy, the officers say.
“They always ask us to rear up like Thunder,” Herbst says, referencing the NFL team's live animal mascot. “People have been drinking at those tailgate parties. They have no fear to ask whatever they want.”
The officers don’t comply with those requests, but they love interacting with community members — even in silly situations like that. Children delighting at the horses is a particular highlight for all of them.
“The best thing for me is going to school events, just seeing all the kids,” Carlson says. “It's something that's truly magical for them because it's not something they see on a daily basis, and they ask great questions.”
Not everything is fun and laughs, though: The three officers are still part of the police force and are required to do everything any other officer can do. The only difference is that this unit does it all while astride their horses — even handcuffing a person if a situation calls for it.
Typically, people are quick to comply, because the horses are intimidating, Jensen says.
Plus, they know they can’t outrun a horse if they start to run away on foot. If the officers arrest someone, they will call uniformed cops to transport the person to jail. But that’s the only part of police work they pass off.
Officer Aaron Carlson's horse, Ollie, gets extra grain because he can sometimes run underweight.
Catie Cheshire
There tends to be a lot of interest in joining the unit, but Jensen says not everyone is cut out for the job, which also involves cleaning up after the horses. The team has a stable master who helps out, but for the most part, they take care of their own four-legged partners.
“There is a lot of dirty, hard work,” Jensen says. ”You're doing all the feedings, picking up all the poop, grooming, packing, all the preparation for getting your horse ready for the trip.”
The officers pick up after their horses on patrol, as well — taking poop scoops with them wherever they go.
Most of the horse-training equipment at their barn was handmade by the squad. They have creative solutions, like attaching pool noodles to a wooden spool or hanging ropes from an archway to train the animals to not fear being brushed by objects or people as they do their work.
As for the horses themselves, they come from all over the place, even Craigslist. Others are donated, which was the case with new horse Orei. Maverick was a wild stallion who came to the DPD from a ranching background. Maximus also used to be a ranch horse.
Maximus is named after the horse from the 2010 Disney film Tangled — and he’s just as silly.
When the department acquired him, an officer at the time had daughters who loved the movie, so his name was the perfect fit. Other horses come to the unit with names already.
Horses get a thirty-day trial to see if they’re a good fit, though Jensen says they can usually tell if a horse will stick within the first two weeks. “Based on their temperament, their demeanor and their skill set, we know pretty soon whether or not we're going to keep them,” he says.
Each horse has its own Denver street sign with his name on it outside their section of the barn, along with a Disney horse that corresponds with their personality. Maximus is obvious, while Maverick is Phillippe from Beauty and the Beast and Orei is Mulan's horse in Mulan.
They always go out together, either as a pair or a trio. Horses are herd animals, so they prefer things that way. The four DPD horses are definitely a family.
“But like with family, they pick on each other,” Carlson says.
Particularly Orei. The baby of the group, he can be a handful and will sometimes bite at his brothers playfully to create mischief. He likes to toss his ball out of his enclosure, making the officers retrieve it — much like human toddlers in high chairs throwing toys for their parents to pick up.
“Maverick is definitely our pillar of strength,” Jensen says of the veteran horse. “Whenever the other horses don't want to go over something, Maverick will show them how to do it and the other horses follow suit.”
However, Herbst notes how the wild mustang in Maverick comes out when the horses are out in their pasture, where he runs and kicks like crazy — reveling in the open space. Two barn cats, Spooky and Freaky, are also part of the Mounted Patrol family (and there are bald eagles nesting in a tree nearby).
The officers hope their family will expand soon with the addition a fourth human. Since the unit’s 1984 reinvigoration, there have been between two and twelve officers in the unit.
But no matter what happens, the Mounted Patrol will continue its work around the city, helping keep Denver’s Wild West roots alive and well — even if the officers no longer chase down criminals with lassos.
“We wouldn't be able to do this without community support,” Carlson concludes.
