Upstate NY Police Hold Open Casting Call for a New Horse to Join the Force

The Saratoga Springs Police Department is growing and they need a specific 4-legged animal to join their squad.

As police departments add canines to their units to help with sniffing out bombs, capturing bad guys, or bringing comfort to victims of a crime - Saratoga Springs officers are searching for something else entirely.

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Their Mounted Unit, which patrols around the Saratoga Race Track, is in need of a specific horse to help them maintain law and order around the event space. Authorities there say their new hire would also participate in parades, concerts, and other special events around town.

The perfect horse for the job needs to satisfy a very particular list of qualifications, the department added.

First of all, all potential "applicants" must be within a 4-hour radius of Saratoga Springs, and they must be friendly geldings, known as neutered male horses. who aren't fearful. These geldings must also be between 5-and-12-years of age, as well as 16 to18 hands tall.

Other qualifications include staying "chill" at all times, even in the presence of loud noises or rowdy environments. This qualification is also known as "bombproof," which ensures the animal won't spook under any condition.

Potential applicants must also not be prone to harming others via kicking, rearing, biting, or other aggressive habits. Also, the stable vice known as cribbing, where a horse compulsively chews or yanks on objects, is also a disqualifying factor.

Any horses with an injury that would inhibit their job performance also aren't qualified. Why?

The department cracked, "[We need a horse that] doesn't mind being ridden by the biggest, strongest, most muscular officers (the Mounted Officers insisted we write that)."

Should a horse of this caliber be within the 4-hour radius of Saratoga Springs, police want an application sent to Sergeant Jenna Hiltz via the email address: jhiltz@saratogapolice.org.

The lucky horse that scores the job will go through basic training, which includes exposure to the city and its crowds, in addition to a 30-to-60-day trial to ensure they are the perfect fit.

Once those requirements are satisfied, the horse will be assigned a new name and officially join the Mounted Unit to serve the people and visitors of Saratoga Springs.

Upon the horse's retirement, its previous owners will have first right of refusal to take them back home.

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