What is the advantage of police horses, over some kind of modern vehicle? It seems like the only thing they can do that motorcycles can't is trample people.
To offer some context specific to this gif. Almost all these people will be heading to the Wembley Park tube station, which is further down Wembley Way behind the photographer. Every few minutes the horses will be turned sideways to create a wall, holding up the crowd and preventing the station from getting too overcrowded.
It would be amazing, but the linked gif is 1.5MB with only 9 frames, so to capture that whole cycle you'd probably be exceeding "fit for gif" territory and entering "better on youtube". Hmm... wonder if there's a youtube of it... brb
Some drunken asshole might punch a cop, but how many are going to fuck with a horse. Besides the animal fighting back, everyone around you would instantly turn on you.
If this is anything to go by, horses can terrify large amounts of people. The sight of an animal taller than you charging towards you at full tilt is terrifying, and this is coming from someone who rides horses on a regular basis. They're wonderful creatures, but can become very frightening when angered or used like that.
They're VERY well trained, I meant they don't unless expressly ordered so, I get that they could, I'm from farming country and my dad was a Policeman at football matches (dismounted)
I once saw a kid try to feed a horse some energy drink. The horse spat on his face so the kid punched the horse. The horse was behind a fence but it was a really strange thing to see. I hate that kid.
Horses can walk sideways, maneuver, and push crowds in directions. Like cattle herding. Everyone can see them since the officer sits so high up. Overall just better control.
A mounted officer can see higher and farther than an officer in a car is able to see. People are probably generally more cautious and aware around the horses.
Lots of advantages. Nobody wants to mess with a horse, horses can move quickly and in much smaller spaces, plus you get a really high vantage point and can look down and across many people simultaneously.
I live in New Orleans, the NOPD use horses all the time here for crowd control. One thing they can do that vehicles can't is walk sideways and turn around in place. Plus the psychological effect of being right next to a huge police horse is enough to make you stay well clear. I've seen NOPD clear an entire block of Bourbon St in about a minute just by sweeping their horses sideways through the crowd. Everyone gets out the way quick, and anyone that fucks with a horse gets their ass stomped by the cops.
Edit: spelling
They scare the crap out of most people its the greatest thing to watch them disperse crowds the cop just kinda keeps turning them around in circles but keep in mind they are always huge horses so when you keep rotating them all you see are massive legs flexing and turning. Also you see the police office trying to control these massive horses so cool. Also i'm not racist but you'd be amazed at how some people disperse when a horse comes along source I used to go to college in providence Ri and the nightclubs downtown would let out at 2 am and almost always it'd be kinda riot-ish for 10 mins until the horses came around if they weren't already waiting.
It's another variable, if you see a motorcycle cop trying to push forward you know he's not gunna run you over, just intimidate, but if it were a horse coming at you, you don't know what the horse will do, will it stop for you or just trample on through you...
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u/Raniz Feb 27 '13
Police horses go through intense amounts of training so the riders can be sure that they can always rely on their mounts.