One great way for equestrians to serve communities is participation in mounted patrol units. There is a variety of groups eager to recruit and train volunteers. Not only does mounted patrol provide a service, it also promotes horses as endearing community assets to residents that may not otherwise experience them.
An example is the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department-sponsored Volunteer Mounted Unit (VMU) for individuals 18-years and older. VMU patrols are the eyes and ears of the Department and also function as good-will ambassadors between the Department and the community.
What are the requirements? Volunteer Mounted Unit members are asked to volunteer a minimum of six-hours a month by mounted training events, monthly personnel meetings, and different types of patrol opportunities throughout San Diego County. These include urban street patrols, backcountry trail and preserve patrols, holiday watch patrols during the holiday season, parade routes, rodeo, and fair perimeter patrols, memorial services, meet-and-greets with law enforcement events and schools — and more.
All Volunteer Mounted Unit applicants who are approved for the program attend a formal two-week academy, held several times a year.After academy graduation, VMU members must pass a mounted qualification test on all horses they wish to use for patrol. All VMU members must supply their own patrol horse.
For more info on qualifications, or the mounted unit, email SheriffMounted@sdsheriff.org.
If you are with a mounted unit and would like California Horsetrader to publicize your program, let us know with an email to volunteers@horsetrader.com.
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