About 20 emergency responders, police officers and firefighters gathered at The Farm in Milton Township this week for the free training sponsored by the Wisconsin State Horse Council Equine Foundation. They learned the basics of approaching, herding and haltering horses. Kyle Geissler reports. You can read more in today's Janesville Gazette.
Instructor Edie Brogan waves her arms and demonstrates how a horse reacts to an unstable person to a group of regional law enforcement workers at The Farm in Milton.
Kricket Jewett of Milton helps Renee Stodola, Animal Services Officer with Dane County, place a halter on a horse during a training session for regional law enforcement at The Farm in Milton.
HotShot has seen just about anything you can throw at him.
He yawned as inexperienced law enforcement officers tried to harness him.
He eagerly turned his chestnut head toward the snap of a camera.
His owner, Edie Brogan, can lead him around by the tail or mane.
He’s the opposite of the type of horse you’d find loose on the highway from a broken fence or a trailer accident.
“Horses are prey animals, and they’re very reactive, and they can be very dangerous,” Brogan said.
Brogan taught law enforcement officers from around southern Wisconsin, including a few from Rock County, how to keep themselves and horses safe in loose animal situations Thursday.
About 20 emergency responders, police officers and firefighters gathered at The Farm in Milton Township for the free training sponsored by the Wisconsin State Horse Council Equine Foundation. They learned the basics of approaching, herding and haltering horses.
“The best thing to do with horses is to be as firm as necessary but as gentle as possible,” Brogan advised the group.
She would know. She led the mounted unit of the UW-Madison Police Department for 18 years, taking horses through the likes of Madison Halloween celebrations and football games.
Participants didn’t do anything like that Thursday, but they did get hands-on experience putting halters around trained police horses. They even learned how to make a temporary halter out of a rope.
Sgt. Tom Gilley with the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office got some gentle ribbing from the group because he had “zero experience” with horses.
“I think I petted a horse once,” he said.
The brown and white mare, Ice, sensed Gilley was nervous and edged away, but Gilley soon got the rope around the mare and led her around the barn.
“If we’re really nervous and our blood pressure’s all crazy, they’re going to get upset,” Brogan said. “It’s your job to calm down.”
Gilley said the training will come in handy because his department often responds to loose horse calls.
“It’s definitely made me more comfortable around horses,” he said.
Janesville police officer Doug Johnson took the training because he’s the department’s certified humane officer. He said he doubts he’ll use the training in the city but could help out the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.
“If the county ever needs assistance with something (involving horses), I can help them because I’ve got the training,” he said.
The Wisconsin State Horse Council has two more training sessions scheduled for June— one in Waunakee and one in Sparta.
Council members hope to expand next year by offering more technical training in how to help large animals.
“We really have nothing like that in Wisconsin right now,” Brogan said. “There’s nobody you just call that knows what they’re doing if a horse is stuck in a bog or stuck on a cliff or whatever.”