Hamilton Mounted Police welcome new horses, riders to force

The Hamilton Police Mounted Patrol Unit is welcoming two new riders and horses to the force. The horses’ new names carry significant meanings, one is of Indigenous origin.

The Hamilton Police Force honoured two mounted police officers who are the newest graduates of the basic equitation riding course, Cst. Samantha Couce and Cst. Ryan Rieder.

Cst. Couce said, “…this was something that I get to combine two passions of mine with policing and horseback riding into one.” Cst. Rieder said the course was a lot of hard work but, “I’m glad to be where we are now. Looking forward to keep going.”

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This was the first time the 12-week course was run in-house by the Hamilton Police Mounted Unit. The 2023 budget for the mounted unit is just over $864,000 which is an increase of 4.41 per cent from 2022.

Sgt. Denise Leonard says a lot goes into the program which includes a rider fitness program, a driving training component, search and rescue training, and of course, horse care.

“When we moved here, we had the opportunity to create a stronger training program. It made more sense to have our riders train in-house, they didn’t have to travel to Toronto. We can adapt it to what we use our horses for, they get to handle the horses they’re actually going to ride,” Sgt. Leonard said.

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The celebrations continued with the announcement of the names of two new horses, Sawyer and Sutherland. Sutherland was named in part to honour the memory of Argyll, a Hamilton Police horse who died last year.

As for Sawyer, Cst. Stacey Hill says his name has an Indigenous connection to Chief Joseph Sawyer who fought in the War of 1812. Cst. Hill said, “It’s Nawahjegezhegwabe. After serving from the war, he came back with PTSD and battled with that for quite some time and then ended up getting through that and becoming Chief of the Mississauga Nation.”

She says there are some similarities between Sawyer and his namesake, “When they brought him here, how unwell he looked and bringing him back from all of that and now being a serving member of the Hamilton Police Service.”

Over the next three weeks, the riders will gain more experience riding horses while doing daily patrol work. The horses will slowly integrate into their daily police workflow on the street.

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