Trampling dissent: How police horses have been used to crush protest from Selma to LA

In Los Angeles, where protests have risen like heat from the pavement, police mounted on horses have turned city streets into stomping grounds — even as video and social media shine a light on their violence around the clock.

They’ve rammed bodies into walls, herded voices into choke points, and trampled dissent until it falls silent.

You can call it “crowd control,” “tradition,” or “visibility.” But this isn’t the Wild West. And horses aren’t used because they’re safer or more cost-effective. They’re used to send a message: We own this street — and you don’t.

From the Edmund Pettus Bridge to Sunset Boulevard, mounted police have enforced control through spectacle. A towering officer on a thousand-pound animal doesn’t de-escalate. It dominates.

On the Edmund Pettus Bridge, officers climbed onto horses to make their point louder than any order could. They sent hooves into hymns, steel into skin — charging straight at Black marchers whose only defense was their unity. Singing. Praying. Linking arms. What those horses represented was clear: a brute force over basic rights.

And it didn’t stop there.

Police using horses to terrorize Los Angeles protests reflects long history

Across the American West, cavalry raids devastated Native nations. At Standing Rock, mounted officers drove into water protectors. In South Central LA, they’re still used to scatter crowds demanding justice. It’s not about safety. It’s intimidation — and plausible deniability.

In 2020, a Columbus, Ohio officer rode directly into a protester. The city paid $5.75 million to settle. In Houston, video showed a horse trampling a woman — the mayor apologized, but the trauma didn’t leave with the horse. 

Police blamed the animal, blamed the victim for “getting in the way,” and kept it moving.

In Los Angeles, several recent incidents show officers ramming people into walls, corralling them into dangerous choke points, or stomping protesters until they’re unconscious — then dragging them off the street.

Mounted units are also expensive. Cities spend over $200,000 per horse each year on training, veterinary care, and gear. Overseas, the cost is even steeper. London’s Mounted Branch budget totaled £13.78 million (around $17 million) per year as recently as 2018.

That’s public money — money that could fund housing, mental health crisis teams, school counselors. Instead, it props up a 19th-century tactic that leaves both people and animals hurt.

And no, it’s not safer for the officers.

Between 2014 and 2020, mounted cops were injured at three times the rate of their non-mounted peers. Most injuries — 64.9% — happened while simply trying to manage the horse.

Horses don’t choose this. They’re shoved into chaos: sirens, fireworks, tear gas. Some suffer torn ligaments. Others collapse in the street. They don’t know what protest is. They just feel fear — and react.

When things go wrong, police departments don’t take responsibility. They blame the animal. They blame the protester. They blame everything but the system that created this violence.

Some cities got the memo. Others double down.

Cities like Seattle, Portland, and San Diego got the message. They’ve shut down their mounted divisions. The practice doesn’t work. It’s counter-productive.

So why is LA still trotting out horses at protests? Why are Tulsa and Houston doubling down on a relic that harms everyone involved? 

There are over 150 mounted police units across 40 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. The LAPD Mounted Platoon currently fields 32 active horses, with authorization for up to 40. 

We’re not talking about farm patrols or rural trail units. This is militarized muscle rolled into urban neighborhoods — into Black communities — when people dare to demand justice. About rolling out a cavalry when people dare to say: Enough.

There are modern, humane alternatives to using horses for policing — none of which involve traumatizing animals or the people they’re deployed against. Foot patrols allow officers to engage directly without creating fear. Bike units offer mobility in crowded areas without intimidation. Drones can monitor public spaces if used with transparency and oversight. 

Better yet, cities can invest in civilian-led peacekeeping teams and mobile crisis response units — like the CAHOOTS model in Oregon — that prioritize care over control.

It’s time to end the slave-era practice 

Mounted units aren’t just outdated — they’re ineffective and traumatic, especially in Black and Indigenous communities. We don’t need horses to patrol urban parks or protests. We need people trained in care, de-escalation, and human dignity.

Ask your city council where the money goes. Ask how much is spent feeding, shoeing, and training animals to police people — when schools, hospitals, and shelters go without.

It’s about power. It always has been. And for anyone still trying to justify it? What are we protecting — and who are we hurting?

Using our voice is to advocate for one another is a constitutionally protected right. People are not the obstacles. Protests are not the real threat. And our streets are not arenas for state-sponsored stampedes.

Start local. Look into your city’s police budget. If mounted units are still funded, demand answers. Demand reallocation. Demand care over control.

Because no one should be trampled for speaking out. Not by a badge. Not by a boot. And not by a horse.

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