Members of Oxford PD's mounted unit train to patrol on horseback

OXFORD – The Oxford Police Department is always looking for a few more good horsemen.

Each year, the department holds a basic riding course to gauge interest from officers who like horses and want to join the department’s mounted unit. This year, they held two basic courses.

There are currently about a dozen officers who ride the department’s six horses on evenings and weekends, patrolling the downtown area and greeting people.

“Patrolling downtown is our primary function, but we are heavily involved in community outreach,” said David Misenhelter, officer in charge of the unit.

The mounted unit will also visit schools and patrol neighborhoods and commercial areas during the day.

“People like seeing the horses. You can’t roll the windows up and avoid people on horseback,” Misenhelter said. “You have to stop and talk to them. It opens the door for communication, and a lot of times we learn about things going on in the community.”

The mounted unit is a very visible part of OPD, but it is not an assigned position. Members come from all ranks and divisions of the department — patrolmen, detectives and even school resource officers. All time on horseback is done in addition to the officer’s normal duties. Riding is done during overtime or off time. Besides time in the saddle, officers must also help feed, groom and exercise the animals — seven days a week.

“It is a 365-day job,” Misenhelter said. “The horses don’t care about your Christmas plans or if it’s your birthday.”

The basic class teaches officers how to ride, as well as how to care for the horse, along with the dos and don'ts of patrolling on horseback. The department has had this group of horses for several years. Their years of patrolling and being out in the public make them proven service mounts.

“It makes it easier for new riders,” Misenhelter said. “The horse is an excellent technician.”

While the horse knows what it is doing, the officer has to learn how to control the animal. They learn how to use the reins, their feet, their legs, and even how they are sitting in the saddle to control the horse. While there is a lot to learn, it is easier to teach an officer to ride than to teach an experienced rider how to be a police officer.

They take plenty of breaks and rotate the horses. That gives the officers not only a chance to see the personalities of different horses, it also forces the officers to readjust straps, stirrups and other gear to fit them.

“This is a pretty intensive course. It’s a rough 10-hour day,” Misenhelter said. “There is a lot of saddle time. They are essentially getting a year’s worth of riding lessons in one week. There is a high level of scrutiny and a high level of supervision.”

Officials hopes that all 10 of the officers who attended the basic classes this summer (one in mid-June, one last week) will continue the process and join the mounted unit. The department is “pretty selective” about who is invited to the basic course. Nearly all have some background with horses.

That certainly describes patrol officer Brandon Higgason, 24, who had a horse as a child and continued to ride whenever he could.

“I’ve been around horses all my life and really enjoy riding,” Higgason said. “It never feels like work when I’m around horses.

Besides being a patrolman, he is a member of the SWAT team, is married with a small child.

“The mounted unit is mostly nights and weekends, so it doesn’t interfere too much with family life,” Higgason said. “I feel pulled toward this. It’s a very attractive position.”

The mounted unit can be seen nights and weekends downtown, as well as festivals and special events. Most of their work used to be in the fall, especially weekends when Ole Miss had a home football game and additional visitors were in town for extended periods. But after the University of Mississippi baseball team won a national title in 2022, weekends in the spring are getting just as busy.

OPD has the only mounted unit in the region, and Oxford is one of the smallest cities to have one. The nearest cities with mounted units include Memphis, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas; Mobile, Alabama; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

They train with the other units regularly and often trade out services.

Oxford PD sent some horses and officers to Mobile recently to help patrol a large outdoor music festival. In return, the Alabama unit will send some horses up here this fall to help on a football weekend.