EPSO holds Mounted Unit training academy

(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office recently held a Regional Mounted Unit Academy, where students learned horsemanship skills, new techniques and strategic plans for emergencies.

El Paso County has the only Mounted Unit in the Pikes Peak region. Equine partners are helpful in terrain where patrol cars cannot go and provide a unique advantage and law enforcement tool in many situations, including homeless outreach, fugitive and evidence searches, crowd control, traffic enforcement, and search and rescue operations.

“I am incredibly proud of our Mounted Unit’s strides,” said El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal. “Since I took Office in January of 2023, I have worked to double the size of our unit and hosted several regional training courses. In May 2024, our deputies trained with the North American Police Equestrian Council in Washington, D.C., during National Police Week.”

El Paso County Sheriff’s Office deputies have utilized equine partners in their operations since 1861. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit was formally designated in 1996 to support the Sheriff’s Office, primarily in rural areas where the abilities and advantages of an equine partner can be combined with normal patrol techniques.

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