News Releases

MPD Mounted Unit's New Horse to Debut at 2016 Mardi Gras Needs a Name

Jan 4th, 2016

Often a crowd favorite and always a visible, attractive patrol unit, the Mobile Police Mounted Unit has assisted with crowd control, response and crime prevention at Mardi Gras since 1991. This year, the unit has a new horse who will debut at the 2016 Mardi Gras parades and the public is asked to give the horse a name.

Names for the male horse can be submitted on January 4 through January 15 with a post on the Friends of the Mounted Facebook page, or in person at the Central Events Precinct, 320 Dauphin Street. The person who gives the most creative name will be recognized and invited to an official naming ceremony on January 22 at the Mounted Barn where the horse's name plate will be nailed onto its stall.

In the meantime, the new horse is completing training and conditioning for the expected crowds of people in the streets of downtown Mobile. According to Lt. Billie Rowland, the horse will be seen in the Mounted Unit working at Mobile's first 2016 Mardi Gras parade, the Conde Cavaliers parade, and throughout the carnival season.

Friends of the Mounted Unit is a community based group of volunteers who can help with maintaining the barn facilities and care of the horses through volunteer work and fundraising efforts. Membership is currently open. Those who join can also become active members in the Mobile Mounted Police Auxiliary and attend the Mardi Gras Mounted Training School to learn various mounted tactics, how to arrest from horseback, and crowd control techniques. For membership inquiries, call the Mounted Unit at 251-208-2726.