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Published: May 02, 2008 03:02 pm
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: The Niagara County Sheriffs' Mounted Division.
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By Ed Adamczyk
niagaraliving@gnnewspaper.com
The two-story cinderblock building on a horse farm in Clarence was dimly lit with a dirt floor and enough square yardage to host a football game.
Parked outside its front door were oversized pickups trucks with empty trailers for transporting horses. The pastoral scene was typical of a horse farm, but on this humid Saturday, a police training session was in progress — and it was a serious exercise.
The all-volunteer members of the Mounted Division of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department practiced maneuvers. The air buzzed with marching commands and the sound of horse hooves tamping the soil. The horses elegantly moved through the maneuvers, and each rider sat erect in the saddle.
In its 50th year, the division is considerably more than a nostalgic throwback to the pre-motorized days when a sheriff was always a man on horseback. These deputies are called upon for matters including crowd control, police patrols, aid in search and rescue missions, and providing assistance to the rest of the department.
While the riders and their mounts can also present the parade-oriented, all-the-pretty-horses aspect of the job, they seem to demonstrate that by-the-book dedication to the law enforcement mission of the sheriff’s department.
The division is a force of 25, typically horse owners who have careers outside of law enforcement. Fourteen are active riders who pay — out of pocket — for uniforms, weapons, travel and the upkeep of their privately owned horses. Extensive certification in firearms and police procedure are an integral part of the program.
Their payoff is not in dollars. All consider themselves honored to participate.
“We all have professional jobs. We do this, the training, on weekends. There’s a lot of commitment here” said Captain John Sturniolo of his force. Added Steven Capp, “We took a week off (from work) for pistol training.”
This six-hour work day began with a business meeting on horseback. Riders sat on seven stock-still and well-mannered horses — Wrae Gorman and her horse Savannah, Bob Weibel and Marty, Joanne Paxon and Sonny, Jan Bowden and Pecos, Sherrie Capp and Gracie, Martha Sturniolo and Major, Capp and Ginger — each faced Capt. Sturniolo on his Tennessee walker, Vinnie, and listened to the orders of the day.
The officers were in full uniform, including helmets. Even the horses had a regulation look, with Sheriff’s Department blankets and safety reflectors on bridles and above their hoofs.
Maneuvers began. Horses followed each other in laps around the hot, cavernous structure. They lined up two abreast and walked in formation. With minimal audible command, the riders threw the horses in reverse and they moved backward with precision, then sideways in intricate, ballet-like drills.
The riders were skilled and the horses superbly well-trained. It was an impressive demonstration. The horses’ compact bodies are bred for performance, the sort that could work a rodeo or a ranch. The unit this day included a palomino, an Arabian, a paint, Tennessee walkers, and Clydesdale quarter horses.
This, of course, is not training for some performance. It is for display of a public police presence and for service in emergencies.
“Over the years, kids come up to the horses,” Weibel said of events such as recent assignments at the Fashion Outlets mall and the Lockport Mall. “They get to know us and we get to know them.”
Added Capp, “I don’t know the attribute of the original quote, but it’s been said that nobody pats a police car.”
There are advantages to being a cop on a horse. The sight lines are better, conversation with the citizenry is easier and less provocative, and “police presence” looks and feels more like “protect and serve” than “law and order.” Each mounted division member carries, and is certified on, “the department weapon, the Glock 21 .45-caliber,” Paxon intoned with gravity in her voice.
“It’s the standard peace office weapon,” adds Weibel of the semi-automatic pistol.
Peace officer — in every sense of the term — was an apt description of these volunteers.
While donations are welcome and typically are offered by the malls and attractions the mounted division patrols, Paxon said a goal is “to grow this unit, with other New York State units.”
New members are sought, and any Niagara County resident with an appropriate horse and an idea of the costs, responsibilities and requirements is welcome to apply. The position comes with an understanding, though, of the commitment and the rigor involved in the work.
“The most telling thing about us is that we all have a passion for this,” Paxon said. “It’s our way of giving back to the community. It’s truly an honor.”
Contact freelance reporterEd Adamczyk atniagaraliving@gnnewspaper.com.
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