The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Horse Patrol Association is dedicated to making the mounted unit of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department the premier mounted unit in the United States.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Horse Patrol Association supports the mounted unit of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department by purchasing quality horses and equipment, supplying officers with training and travel reimbursements, and various training aids and supplies.

The Indianapolis Police Department Horse Patrol Association became a non-profit (501)(c)(3) in March of 1998 by a group of business owners who were interested in promoting and financially assisting the Mounted Unit of the Indianapolis Police Department. At that time, the unit was six years old and found it difficult to purchase horses.

The Association has purchased all horses for the unit since 1988 and leases them to the city for $1 per year. The Association is able to give the retiring horses to an officer or help the unit find an appropriate retirement for the animal.

Why does the Indianapolis Horse Patrol Association pay for the horses and equipment?

Because the officers see their horses as partners. Under City statutes, equipment that is worn, unusable, or otherwise at the end of its useful life must be publicly auctioned as surplus.

Our work prevents horses from being treated like a used car. The Indianapolis Horse Patrol Association privately purchases horses and equipment. This allows retired horses to stay under the care of their officer or maintain other high-quality arrangements.

Officers in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Mounted Unit are highly trained and skilled to serve on horseback and have all the same arrest powers and training as every other IMPD officer. The mission of the Mounted Patrol Unit is to serve and protect the community while on horseback. Mounted officers are also charged with maintaining good community relations, enforcing laws and maintaining the peace.

The Mounted Patrol Unit works as a team, with their equine partner and other IMPD officers, to manage crowds with the least amount of force necessary to maintain the peace, doing so while protecting the crowd, public, officers, and mounts and avoiding injury and mitigating disturbances.

City tax funding covers the cost of hay, grain, bedding, horseshoes, and some facility maintenance like mowing and trash service. The City also funds officer salaries and trucks and trailers to transport horses. 

The Horse Patrol Association also funds additional expenses of the unit. Attending educational seminars and national competitions, promotion of the unit through participation in parades outside of Indianapolis and the purchase of training equipment are all covered by the Horse Patrol Association. Training obstacles, grooming supplies, medications, supplements, office equipment and supplies, veterinary care and therapeutic shoeing are also provided by the Association to the IMPD Mounted Unit.