Bands march past with trumpets blaring and drums banging, and the horse hardly twitches an ear. A mother pushes her baby stroller under the neck of the horse unknowingly while asking for directions, and the horse merely glances down, never moving his feet. Trucks whiz past the horse, inches from his hindquarters, and he appears uninterested. Protestors yell and throw anything handy at the biggest target on the front line, and the horse jigs in anticipation of action, not from fear. Children reach out to pet and stroke, people bumping, crowds of thousands, chases and arrests, noise, fire, fireworks, helicopters, gunshots, sirens, heavy equipment, yells, angry people looking to vent their frustrations…all in a day’s work for the police horse.

Who among us hasn’t been on a horse which sees goblins around every corner and horse-eating aliens behind every new jump? Has anyone been spared from the horse that plants all four legs wide, snorts with head raised, and makes you instinctively sit deep, not knowing which direction he’ll go, but knowing that when he goes, he’s going quickly and with no concern for whether you’ll be along for the ride?

Who hasn’t spent time trying to get a horse past a flapping piece of plastic, a monster in the trash can, or something we can’t even see?

With those experiences under our belts, we get great satisfaction–and not just a little envy–watching a well-trained police horse at work. Whether directing traffic at a busy intersection, keeping an unruly crowd behind barriers, or acting as a public relations tool for adults and children, the police horse is valued for his presence