Mardi Gras Mounted Patrol

Font Size By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter
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M50o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr Mardi Gras Mounted Patrol
Published: Thu, January 17, 2008 - 1:16 pm
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 7:34 pm
Jere Hough
Jere Hough
A Mardi Gras parade...and a rowdy group throws beads and moon pies directly at the horses of the Mounted Patrol. Someone even has smoke bombs! What next? Well, next is when the trainers evaluate the horses and riders. Did everyone stay in control? Sergeant Eddie Carr, who's in charge of the Patrol, says, "A horse's first instinct is to turn and run from something, if it scares them. Well, here they can't do that. And the officer has to be the one to stop them from doing that. They have to work as a team."
Horses are big, powerful animals weighing a half a ton or more. You don't want them to get spooked in a crowd of parade-watching families.
Officers and their horses are "nuisance trained" at the school and then tested during the actual parades. Participants come from as far away as Minneapolis and Boston.
They learn that for some situations, a mounted patrol is perfect. Sergeant Carr explains, " Where a crowd has to be moved, you've got no better tool than for a horse and rider to step in there. If you have five or six horses walking toward a crowd, that crows will back up."

The Mounted Patrol do a wonderful job every year at the various events needed.  Sure the patrol officers are allowed breaks, but what about the horses.  Why does the city who relies on the horses at downtown events not have a proper spot where the horses can rest away from the crowds or at least get a drop of water.  As noted in the article they are very large and get thirsty.  A large fat person who walks around as much as the horses do would get water, so why not the horses.  A few years ago the city spent money to restore a watering fountain in Bienville Square that used to be used for horses.  Why can they not use it.

Posted by lawyers kid on 01/17/08 - 3:50 pm • Report Abuse   


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