I was watching the local police train horses and it was amazing. They have a course the horses go through. They are trained to step on platforms, go through doors, handle popping balloons, and people touching them. Also it was fun to see riot training. There was a bunch of people yelling and screaming and holding signs. The horse is trained to push on the people and get them to move. It is amazing to see a horse doing all of this, because nature is telling the horse to get out of there.

I just read somewhere there is a horse that works patrol and "Pokes his tongue out whilst out on patrol." :)

I have read up some on this, once long long ago, I was debating having a family on becoming a cop. It takes a good full year to train the horse basics for this duty, but the training goes in even when they are in the field first hand. I think its great.

Horses are really a big help on crowd control. They are stronger than well-fit policeman and they could easily intimidate a crowd if the horses are well trained. Are these horses trained from a young age? And is there a specific breed best suited for police work?

I didn't see a specific breed when I saw the training. They are average sized horses and big enough to carry a police officer. Another item I though was interesting was the shoes the horses had on. They were a special plastic shoe that absorbed shock, but had metal "spikes" that could grip the street. They must be expensive shoes!