Huntington Beach police to begin equestrian patrols

Huntington Beach police Officer Gabe Ricci was a dog handler for the department for years. But he’s trading his canine companion for another four-legged partner — one that’s bigger, faster and more intimidating.

Ricci and three colleagues were chosen to form the city’s new mounted enforcement unit, which will patrol the downtown area, beaches, parks and large gatherings.

“Like being a K-9 handler, you have to be the alpha of the animal and work together as a team and learn about each other,” Ricci said of training with his horse, Kelly Blue.

The mounted unit has been undergoing rigorous training for four months at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center and at a facility in Norco with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Regional Mounted Enforcement Unit.

It will take a few more months for the officers to hone their riding skills and prepare their horses. The group expects its first assignment to be patrolling downtown on Halloween.

Police Chief Robert Handy began mulling the idea of an equine unit after a disturbance at last year’s U.S. Open of Surfing.

“We started it around January or February after looking at some of the challenges we’ve had with the last U.S. Open and at night with some of the bar crowds downtown,” Handy said. “We started looking at [the horses] as an option, but I wanted to make sure that we would be using them enough and how the program would look.”

The county’s mounted unit helped patrol during this summer’s U.S. Open, riding in the downtown area and helping to break up large crowds along Main Street and on the beach, Handy said.

“The presence is much different when people see two officers walking on horseback through downtown versus two officers walking a beat on a sidewalk downtown,” he said. “They stand out more; more people see them and more people take note of them.”

After months of study and acquiring horses to train, the department chose Sgt. Michael Metoyer and Officers Ricci, William Brownlee and Victor Ojeda, and two alternates to form the mounted enforcement unit.

Three horses have been acquired through purchase or donation. The department is looking for a fourth.

Handy said the unit will not be used every day, so when the officers are not on horseback, they will perform other patrol duties.

It cost the department about $75,000 to pay for the horses, training and board. The department will be looking to spend about $24,000 annually to care for the animals and house them at the Central Park Equestrian Center, Handy said.

Except for Ojeda, each officer has been assigned to a horse. Metoyer is paired with Drifter, an 8-year-old red roan quarter horse. Brownlee is with Rowdy, a 9-year-old sorrel quarter horse, and Ricci is partnered with Kelly Blue, an 8-year-old palomino quarter horse.

Kelly Blue is named after Kelly Morehouse, a Huntington Beach resident who died last year in a traffic collision a block from the equestrian center. Ricci, one of the first officers to respond to the crash scene, was surprised to find out his horse was named after someone he tried to save.

“Anything we get to do in law enforcement to give back to people, I enjoy it,” Ricci said. “Being able to give back to the family and to give something back to the community is pretty awesome.”

Most of the group has riding experience. Ojeda started riding when he was 18 and stationed at what was then the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Brownlee grew up in Oklahoma and has ridden since he was a boy. Metoyer has more than 40 years of experience riding, including several years in rodeo circuits.

Ricci had no experience riding a horse but has learned most of the fundamentals in the last several months.

“It’s hard to describe, but it’s an amazing opportunity that we have, and it’s great to be a part of something new and something that’s going to benefit our city and department,” he said.

Twitter: @acocarpio