31st Annual Mardi Gras Mounted School
February 14, 2023 - FebrUARY 22, 2023
To download the documents individually (PDF format), click the following links:
Mardi Gras Mounted School Registration Form, Training Supply List, Release Forms, Flyer
The Mobile Mardi Gras Mounted School is held in conjunction with the Mobile's two-week Mardi Gras celebration. This is a complete school that includes basic equitation techniques, sensory training, obstacle courses, defensive tactics, arrest procedures, vehicle extractions, formation riding, crowd control tactics and strategies and other advanced law enforcement maneuvers.
Expert instructors employ a variety of practical scenarios combined with on-the-street training. (Note: Only participants and mounts with demonstrated skills and the approval of Mobile Police Department Mounted Unit supervisors will be allowed to patrol on the streets.) Our instructors emphasize the practical application of mounted patrol within urban environments, and the development of a working team between horse and rider.
SCHOOL COORDINATORS:
Leslie Mayhall, mgmountedschool@gmail.com
Officer John Schaffer, john.schaffer@cityofmobile.org
WHERE:
Mobile Police Department Mounted Unit
1251 Virginia Street
Mobile, AL 36604-2322
251-208-2726
DIRECTIONS:
Take I-10 to Virginia St. exit. Turn west and continue for about two miles. Mobile Police Training Academy will be on your left. Horse barn is located behind the Mobile Police Training Academy building.
WHEN:
February 14, 2023 through February 22, 2023
MORE INFORMATION:
Officer John Schaffer
john.schaffer@cityofmobile.org
Phone: 251-208-2726
Pre-registration required.
Approved helmets and negative Coggins required.
BACKGROUND:
It isn’t just by chance that the Mobile Police Department’s Mounted Unit can navigate through the raucous sights and sounds of a Mardi Gras street parade. The horses and riders of the MPD Mounted Unit train constantly to assure that their horses can maneuver through rowdy revelers, flying doubloons, towering floats and all the unexpected noises and sights of Mardi Gras.
The goal is to produce a mount that will be calm and obedient under the most stressful conditions by building up a horse's tolerance to unusual sights and sounds.
The Mobile Police Department Mounted Unit was created through a grant of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1991 with a mission to patrol the public housing developments of Mobile. After two years, HUD turned over the unit to the city. The Mounted Unit consists of one sergeant and four officers. They currently have seven mounts including a Percheron, Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred Cross, Belgian and Friesian.
The MPD Mounted Auxiliary, started in 1997, is a volunteer organization of civilian riders who are trained to patrol with officers as a support unit. The members train regularly and are required to put in patrol time each month.
The Horse Barn facilities include two arenas and a large complement of training equipment. Both the sworn officers and auxiliary members have competed nationally and in three of the four national competitions, they have taken first place.
The MPD Mounted Unit hosted its first nationwide training school in 1993.
MOBILE POLICE DEPARTMENT