Mounted police

The French Maréchaussée—direct predecessors of the gendarmerie and the first national police force in a modern sense—were a corps of completely mounted constabulary from their establishment in the early 18th century. Poor roads and extensive rural areas made horse-mounted police a necessity in European states until the early 20th century. The establishment of organized law-enforcement bodies throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas during the colonial and post-colonial eras made the concept of predominantly horse-police accepted almost world-wide. Notable examples include the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Mexican Rurales, the Rhodesian British South Africa Police, the Turkish/Cypriot Zapiteh and the caballeria (mounted branch) of the Spanish Civil Guard. == Equipment ==

's mounted unit. Tack used by mounted police is similar to standard riding tack, with adaptations for police use. Synthetic saddles are often favored over those made of natural leather to reduce weight, important both because of long riding hours and because police officers must carry numerous articles of personal equipment. High-traction horseshoes made of speciality metals or fitted with rubber soles are typically used in urban areas in place of standard steel horseshoes, which are prone to slip on pavement. Rubber soled shoes also produce less noise than steel shoes and jar the hoof less. Horses working in riot control wear facial armor, made of perspex so that the animals can still see. The officers themselves are often equipped with especially long wooden or polycarbonate batons for use on horseback, as standard patrol batons would have insufficient length to strike individuals at ground level. ==Notable modern units==

Australia Australia, being a large country and not densely populated, commonly used mounted police in order to traverse the country side. All of the Mounted police units were formed in the 19th century and have continued to this day, excepting Tasmania. on patrol in Sydney. • The New South Wales Mounted Police is a mounted section of the New South Wales Police Force, and the oldest continuous mounted group in the world, formed on 7 September 1825. Currently they have a strength of 36 officers and around 38 mounts and their duties include traffic and crowd management, patrols, and ceremonial protocol duties. • The Victoria Police Mounted Branch was formed in 1838 as the Mounted Police Fifth Division which consisted of soldiers from infantry regiments. The Unit has 26 officers and more than 20 mounts. Canada constable next to his horse in Alberta, Canada, 1897 mounted officers Mounted police units were used in Canada during the 19th century to carry out peace officer duties across vast and sparsely inhabited areas. The predecessors to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Royal North-West Mounted Police, relied on using mounted riders from its inception in 1873 to carry out their policing duties across the Prairies. These mounted police were frequently the only government officials in the area. United Kingdom . The Bow Street Horse Patrol, founded in 1763, are the oldest uniformed police force in the world. They were formally incorporated into the Metropolitan Police in 1836. Today the Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch is the mounted section of the Metropolitan Police, the police force of Greater London (excluding the City of London, where the separate City of London Police has its own mounted branch). The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch undertakes crowd control duties, especially at football matches, but also conducts general street patrols and escorts the Royal Guard change at the London's royal residences. United States agents patrol on horseback in Texas. Many cities in the United States have mounted units, New York having one of the largest with 55 horses as of 2016, The United States Border Patrol had 200 horses in 2005. Most of these are employed along the U.S.–Mexico border. In Arizona, these animals are fed special processed feed pellets so that their wastes do not spread non-native plants in the national parks and wildlife areas they patrol. == See also ==