CALDWELL, Idaho — There was a time when it was common to come across a police officer patrolling the streets on the back of a horse.
Mounted officers were not only seen in parades, but also at events, in the foothills, or even on the greenbelt. Boise's Mounted Patrol Unit was active for 18 years before dismounting and disbanding in 2005.
But another Treasure Valley department is dipping back into the area's affinity for four hooves, as the City of Caldwell created their Caldwell Police Mounted Unit. This move comes after a few officers rode their personal horses to patrol a handful of events last year, including Chief Rex Ingram and Lieutenant John Tucker.
"A community like Caldwell, it's an agricultural community, it's a western lifestyle," Tucker told KTVB on June 22.
Einstein and Lonnie are the first two horses owned by the Caldwell Police Mounted Unit Foundation. They're both seven-year-old draft horses, a breed popular for police work because of their size and stamina.
"He weights probably about 20-2300 pounds," Tucker said.
Caldwell officers and the two horses have been working together for several weeks, getting ready to patrol on July 4.
"A couple of these people have only been out here twice," Tucker said. "And you know, we've worked with them, and now they're already picking hooves and brushing and saddling. And putting bridles on, it's pretty, it's pretty nice to see."
When CPD announced the start of their first ever horse unit, a ranch in Albuquerque, New Mexico wanted to help out.
Jan Gibson helped run Whispering Pines, the ranch in Albuquerque for 25 years, where the twelve Albuquerque police horses stay.
An Albuquerque man, Robert Vick, had donated horse bits to the department for years. He's worked with draft horses since 2010 and took over running the Whispering Pines facility after Gibson.
Gibson saw that Caldwell's Police Department was looking to start its unit and told Vick.
"I donated some hats (to CPD)," Vick told KTVB on July 1. "We had some hats for them. And then she let me know they were needing horses too. And I said, Well, I might be able to help out with that."
He said Lonnie and Einstein didn't quite fit the criteria for APD.
At just over 19 hands, Lonnie was too big, Vick said. Lonnie is originally from somewhere east, he added.
"We trained him to ride and how to do everything that he needed to do and made him perfect for the Caldwell Police Department," he said about Lonnie.
And Einstein who Vick bought in Alabama, is mixed with black and white coloring, wasn't what APD was looking for at the time. They're unit is full of all black horses, or all white horses, Vick said.
"He's a really good boy," Vick said about Einstein. " He was already used to walking in the river and rural areas, and he did great adapting to cars and things like that."
Vick donated Lonnie and Einstein to the Caldwell Police Mounted Unit Foundation (CMPU). They're the first horses to be owned by the foundation.
The foundation is completely funded by donations. Tucker said they already have enough hay to feed six horses for the year.
To start, Lonnie and Einstein will be just at events, working their way up to patrolling the streets.
"Horses are wonderful at moving large groups of people," Mike Schroeder, an officer with APD, told KTVB Wednesday. "So, crowd control is one of our one of our forte's."
Schroader rides Nigel, a draft horse who is 18.5 hands.
"He is a big boy,' Schroader said. "But that vantage point, being eight to 10 feet off the ground, definitely helps us to see into crowds much better when it comes to civil disturbances and having to move large crowds."
It also breaks down a barrier between law enforcement and the public, he said.
"We've had guys over the years, or folks over the years that have flat out told us they would have fought us had it not been for the horses," Schroeder said. "So it helps to calm the situation down as well. Even the most hardened criminals that we've seen over the years... where you see the guy with the face tattoos that generally would not want to come talk to us, he'll bring his kid out to come talk to us."
Although it was hard for Vick to say goodbye to Lonnie and Einstein, him and the APD officers are excited for the two horses' patrolling future in Idaho, they said.
"I can't wait to see them having 12 horses out there, just like we do here," Vick said.
Lonnie and Einstein will make their debut at the 4th of July festivities in Caldwell. They'll also be at the Caldwell Night Rodeo in August.
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