Proving that good things come in small packages, Cleveland’s Mounted Police Unit has welcomed two new ambassadors to its team.
Grace and Valor are miniature horses who will work in community engagement and officer wellness programs. They were purchased using funds from the Cleveland Mounted Police Charitable Trust and came to Cleveland in September.
Samantha Wilmot, a civilian horse trainer and the stable manager for the Cleveland Mounted Police Unit, said she proposed the idea of bringing the horses – called minis – onto the team after seeing how they were being utilized at other mounted police units around the country. Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd liked the idea.
“She was right on the same page,” said Wilmot.
Wilmot consulted with the team’s veterinarian to select the horses.
“We decided that getting babies would be better so that we didn’t have to worry about how they were handled, if they had any issues or fears, so that we are the ones raising and exposing them to everything,” she said.
Both horses are less than one year old. The initial plan was to just purchase one of the minis, but when Wilmot and her team arrived to make the buy, they learned Valor was an orphan whose mother had died and he had attached to Grace.
“So we called [Traffic Commissioner Gordon Holmes],” said Wilmot. “We’re like, ‘We really don’t want to separate them,’ and the commissioner was like, ‘Absolutely not!’ So we were able to get another donation to get the second one.”
“I think it worked out better anyways,” she said. “I think it was better to have two.”
Working with the community
Mounted units typically use miniature horses as community ambassadors because they’re easier to handle and may appear less intimidating to the general public than large horses. Grace and Valor live at the Cleveland Mounted Police Unit stables at the end of East 38th Street, a few blocks north of Lakeside Avenue. The stables are on a hill that overlooks Interstate 90 and the Lake Erie shore. Six other horses, plus several dogs and cats, call the facility their home.
The minis are currently undergoing immersive training to learn how to work with the public. Stable staff turn out the bigger horses into their corral first thing in the morning after feeding and then work with the minis.
“That’s kind of our time to work with them, brush them, mess with them,” she said. “We’re working on just getting them used to everything.… We had a forklift going down the aisle, so I had the minis in here following the forklift.”
“They’re finally at the point that they’re confident on the lead rope. That’s what we’ve been waiting for … to start taking them around town and exploring.”
The horses are also getting plenty of exposure to people. Groups of schoolchildren and adults with disabilities have already been to see them at the Mounted Police facility, located at 1150 E. 38th St.
“[Grace and Valor] were nice and brave, and they really enjoyed everyone,” WIlmot said. “They’ve adjusted really well here.”
The benefit to Cleveland’s police officers
Grace and Valor will also become a component of officer wellness programs currently in development.
Equine therapy has grown in popularity in recent years as a method of treating mental health disorders like anxiety or PTSD. According to the Equine Institute, horses are naturally intuitive and have the ability to respond instantly to human emotions.
Some Cleveland Police officers already use the stable and its serene atmosphere for their personal wellbeing, according to Wilmot.
“We have random officers that will stop here during the day, you know, they’ve had a rough day or whatever,” Wilmot said. “They get to relax and pet the horses, the cats, the dogs…. one brings cat food, one brings treats to the cats … and they each have their own favorites.”
More about Grace and Valor
Grace is becoming notorious around the stables for her habit of getting into everything.
“When we clean the buckets in the morning, she likes to go through and destroy them all, flip them all over and make a mess,” explained Wilmot. “Grace is not grace at all. She is sassy and spicy. There’s nothing graceful about her.”
Grace’s less-destructive partner, Valor, tends to stand quietly and look on during her shenanigans. “He is just always standing there watching like, ‘I don’t know what she’s doing. I don’t know what’s happening,’” said Wilmot.
To get to know Cleveland’s newest police recruits a little better, we conducted introductory interviews with each horse (separately so they couldn’t share answers!). Here are some things of note about Grace and Valor.
