Police implement mounted patrol

During some of the summer events in town, security will look a bit different with Thermopolis Police Officer Bobbi Byrd on horseback.

Byrd explained when she lived in Tennessee, she had a close friend in law enforcement who did the mounted patrol. "It sort of perked my interest, watching him do that."

She and Officer Ken Smith went to a class last year and got certified on their horses, then kept going. In June, Byrd finished her 2019 certification during a weeklong training in Riverton. The mounted patrol was never really implemented with the former police chief, she noted, but current Chief Julie Mathews really wants to get the program going.

The certification from the training goes with the horse the officer will use, Byrd explained, meaning the officer can't go to the class then choose to use a different horse when they get done.

The training is definitely more intense for the horse, Byrd said. There is a lot of "on the ground" training such as de-sensitization. Various items are put on and around the animals - including blankets, swimming "noodles" grocery bags and dead animal skins - helping them get used to these experiences.

They also do course work along obstacles such as ponds with plywood across the top, plastic bottles and inflatable waving figures. A Taser is activated near the horses as well - not on them - and smoke bombs are set off. This all goes to making the animals familiar with the sights, sounds and smells they can experience while they're working.

Byrd said to get certified there's certain things they have to do. They have to trot and know their diagonals, lope around the arena both ways and go through the obstacle course. She explained the people in the class get together to try and make the course as difficult as possible for both horse and rider.

"We always do the stuff on the ground before we get on them," Byrd said. "It's always easier to start them on the ground and make sure they're comfortable going over it."

This will be Byrd's second year certifying, and has taken a different horse each time. This year she took her horse Niko, and last year she had Bud,a boarder's horse.

As to the advantages of having a mounted patrol officer in town, Byrd said at events like the upcoming demolition derby mounted officers have a significant height advantage and can see more than officers on the ground. It also provides good PR for the department, showing folks they are doing things other than just routine patrol.

Of course she won't be on the horse all the time, though she added with a laugh, "that wouldn't bother me." She noted they can maneuver through alleyways a little easier on horseback, and acknowledged having a horse would be useful in finding fugitives hiding out in the county.

Byrd's parents, when they lived here, had horses. "I've pretty much grown up around horses," she said. After her parents divorced her father got rid of the horses. At 13, she moved to Tennessee and got back big into horses, starting with the pleasure animals and then into rodeo with team roping and breakaway.

Since she was 17, she's been hauling and competing throughout the years. She has 13 horses including colts, broodmares and a stud. "Way too many," she said, laughing.