Selecting a Proper horse for Cavalry Work

Cavalry horses came in two types, light and heavy. Heavy cavalry broke through enemy lines, crushed infantry and were basically tanks. These were the draft crosses that have come to us today as Warmbloods. Light cavalry was use for raiding, reconnaissance and close quarters engagements. The Sioux were called the best light cavalry the world has ever seen by a British military observer, and the Sioux preferred smaller handy mounts as did Genghis Khan and British light cavalry.  

Common sense would tell you that urban city mounted police work would be light cavalry, yet these pictures show the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Mexican flags flew on the other side of police barriers and a confrontation ensued, has chosen heavy cavalry types. The result of their poor choice is demonstrated in the picture.

To me it's just one more example of pretending with horses. I rode with a Philadelphia Police Dept. mounted unit instructor many years ago, before mounted police went to the drafts and when they actually trained the mounted units to use a horse, not just make them into clunky obstacles. Today police horses are used as props, big intimidating horses for crowd control that fall down. I'd want to be on a polo horse if I were a mounted policeman. If a protester got past the police line, I'd run him down and give him a lateral "bump". It wouldn't take many of those kinds of moves (and it would be great fun) before the protesters decided not to cross the line. But watching a big lug of a draft stumble only encourages them. Like they say, never take a knife to a gun fight, and never use a heavy cavalry horse for light cavalry duty.