About the Staff

Classified (police officers) and non-classified (civilian) personnel presently staff the Houston Police
Department Mounted Patrol unit.

Currently at full staff the unit consists of:

• Lieutenant - 1
• Sergeants - 6
• Police Officers - 24
• Stable Attendants - 6

• Administrative Assistants - 1

All classified personnel must successfully complete the forty-five (40) day TCOLE Mounted Patrol instruction and standards training. The current basic equine training course consists of 320 hours of classroom instruction and practical application. The courses primarily consist of: 1.) horse care-grooming; 2.) groundwork; 3.) equitation-learning how to comfortably ride; 4.) numerous cavalry formations; 5.) crowd control; 6.) harassment-fireworks and other loud noise; and 7) arrest procedures on horseback. All mounted officers are required to participate in horsemanship classes which are a combinations of techniques utilized by well-known horsemanship instructors; Clinton Anderson, Craig Cameron, and Chris Cox. Unit training occurs one day a month for eight hours. Currently, there are four certified mounted instructors.

Classified supervisors are responsible for all personnel and the wellbeing of all of the horses at our facility.
 

All mounted classified personnel are rated semi-annually on the below listed characteristics:

1. Enforcement of all laws



2. Horsemanship



3. Esprit de Corp



4. Professional image



5. Public relations



6. Crowd control



7. Specialized skills