Hide the Booze and Run! Its Officer Jake!

My father riding Oliver (Dun/Another Officers horse) on the Left

My father was not only my hero, but one for the city he worked in as well. He became an officer before I was born, and I have several pictures of me riding my fathers work bike or with him in uniform. So after I started getting into horses he started entertaining the idea of becoming part of the city's mounted police unit.   My dad had gotten Sebastian first, as he fit the bill of what the unit was looking for physically, a dark colored, tall, gelding. Sebastian failed the mental part horribly, it was during a training (well they hadn't even gotten into the arena with the items for desensitizing) when he reared up and flipped over on top of my dad. So with Sebastian a no, Jake became the next potential police horse.

He did everything that Sebastian wouldn't, he didn't spook, he would walk through/by anything and never said no. My dad said he was always surprised at the stuff that wouldn't send Jake running for the hills. I have to say they do some intense stuff with those horses. One example is they have to light a fire cracker from horseback, drop it into a barrel and have the horse stand by as the fire cracker went off. Jake would jump but would still stand in place on a loose rein. 

Another exercise was for crowd control. This was always my favorite story. The local swat team would come out, lock arms and get told to do everything they could to not let the horses pass through their line. My dad had laughed while explaining the smug look on their faces, that they had no grasp of the concept that a 1200lb animal was about to come push them out of the way like they were no more then blades of grass. Some horses balked at the line, not wanting to push through the shouting and waving arms of the swat team. My dad he pointed Jake towards the line and gave him his head and Jake plowed through the line like it was nothing. The swat team was knocked off their feet, on guy had the guts to try and grab the reins, and my dad told Jake to turn into the guy and Jake knocked the guy flat on his back. 

Jake did anything and everything. Kids could hang off his ears, he would push through anything, and wouldn't spook. Yet he still failed, why? Even if Jake can hold still for days without fidgeting his hot nature while moving was dangerous. If agitated he would sidestep into a crowd of innocent people and knock them over like the swat team. He could not be trusted to calmly walk forward because he just wanted to run. 

Dad riding Oliver again, Dun, second from left

Several trails were a hassle as Jake carelessly would sidestep off a ledge, prance down sand dune (which caused a fall onto his side) and trip over pebbles. Most horses if you give them a hard enough terrain will focus on their feet and slow down. Not Jake, he keeps doing what ever he wants to do and goes in the direction where he wants to go with no concern towards his own health. How would that horse manage to handle curbs, stairs and concrete? Not well. So Jake flunked out of officers training. It was a short lived dream, but by that time I had enough of a grip on him that I made sure my father would never sell him. In 2006 we got Jessie, a calm foundation quarter horse that managed to work out perfectly for the mounted unit and my father was able to be a part of the unit.