When Brian Koska was growing up, he often worked cattle on horseback with his father on his family’s ranch near Madisonville. So, when the Conroe Police Department formed a mounted patrol in June 2022, Koska, who was then a 17-year veteran of the force, applied and was accepted. Even though he is now eligible for retirement, he enjoys his job too much to retire. One of the things he likes about being a mounted patrol officer is that many people are willing to talk to him when his horse provides the introduction. He laughs about the time a man walked by and said, “How are you doing?” Koska responded, “I am fine. How about yourself?” The man then said, ““I was talking to the horse, but how are you doing as well?”
In early 2022, Conroe Chief of Police Jeff Christy asked longtime police veteran Sergeant Clyde Vogel to evaluate the feasibility of forming a mounted police patrol. The City of Conroe had previously purchased the Conroe West Side Recreation Center (formerly the YMCA), which included a stable and enough grazing land to support horses. Vogel performed many tasks to make the site ready, including thankless construction and cleanup jobs. He procured sponsorships for horses, as well as donations of equipment; he also considered logistical matters, such as the purchase of trucks and trailers. “How are you going to haul these horses around?” says Sergeant Robert Engel, who is now the supervising officer of the Conroe Police Mounted Patrol. “You have to be able to get around town.”
Koska joined Vogel in May 2022. That July, the first horses were purchased, and officers throughout the department had the opportunity to apply for reassignment with the mounted patrol. It sounded like a good idea to Officer Shanna House of Huntsville, a horse enthusiast who has ridden off and on throughout her life. “I am an animal person all the way around,” she says. Officer Micheal Chapman, who is originally from Alabama and grew up around horses, was also accepted into the program. Later, Justin Devore, a 17-year veteran of the force, replaced one of the original members. “As a kid, my grandparents had a western store and a barn,” he says. “Being around that environment again made me feel at home,” he says. When Vogel moved to another position in the police department, Engel, a tenured sergeant, joined the unit. The five officers had varying degrees of riding experience when they joined the mounted patrol, but all had tough training ahead.
Each member of the Conroe Police Mounted Patrol attended the Houston Police Department Mounted Patrol Class, a rigorous, nine week, 360-hour training program. “The Houston Police Department has one of the premier mounted police units in the country,” Engel says. “They’ve been doing it since the early 1980s.”
To Chapman’s surprise, officers were first taught to ride bareback. “It teaches you how to keep your seat, and where your thighs and hips and heels need to be,” he says. Initially, officers rode bareback while the horses walked. Then, they progressed to trotting, then cantering. Chapman learned that he could even accomplish the “Look, Mom, no hands!” maneuver, as long as his thighs and hips were placed correctly. Officers also learned about horse anatomy, nutrition, psychology, medical issues, and equitation (riding techniques).
Even Koska, who had been riding since he was three years old, had much to learn, such as crowd control techniques and horseback arrest procedures. Interestingly, mounted officers practice some of the same maneuvers Koska used working cattle with his father. “They just put a name to it,” he says.
“It was the most physically and mentally demanding school I have done,” Engel says, “and I have been through thousands of hours of school.” At the end of the course, students performed a “confidence ride,” he says. “There are miles of very narrow trails through woods. You canter for most of five miles. There are twists and 90 degree turns. You jump creeks and fallen logs. It is western.”
Today, officers train with the Houston Police Department Mounted Patrol at least once a month. “They are a huge resource and partner with us,” Engel says. One of the advantages of this arrangement is the Conroe officers can enjoy camaraderie with other mounted police officers. “Every time we go to train with them, it’s almost like we work for Houston, too,” Devore says. “I’ve been a part of units that were close, but you can go work around other agencies with the mounted patrol and feel like you are family. It’s a brotherhood.”
Conroe Police Mounted Patrol can assist other police organizations at events, and can ask for assistance as well. Conroe’s mounted patrol augmented the Galveston Police Department’s mounted patrol with crowd control during the Mardi Gras celebration on The Strand in early 2024. In 2026, some of the soccer matches of the World Cup will be held in Houston; the Houston Police Department has already asked Conroe Police Mounted Patrol to assist, Engel says.
One of Vogel’s ideas was to obtain sponsorships from businesses and individuals to pay for the horses’ veterinary care, feed, and equipment. In return for an annual $5,000 donation, sponsors have their names displayed on signs at the stable, as well as on horse trailers. They can visit the horses whenever they like, and they even get to name the horses.
Finway Electric: Smarty (Engel’s quarter horse)
Outdoor Equipment Outlet: Gravely (Devore’s enormous, 17-hand draft horse)
Conroe’s Incredible Pizza Company: Pepperoni (Chapman’s quarter horse)
Friends of Conroe: Willie B (Koska’s quarter horse)
Joe’s Italian Restaurant: Sgt. Ed (House’s draft horse)
Mike and Phyllis Saly: Dakota, a quarter horse.
“If a horse is injured, Dakota is our go-to horse,” House says.
The Conroe Police Mounted Patrol is also grateful to several local businesses that provided crucial equipment. Lansdowne-Moody Company donated a tractor, as well as other items, such as a brush hog and hay bale spears; Buckalew Chevrolet and Woodforest National Bank each donated a one-ton flatbed truck.
Taking care of six horses is a lot of work. Tuesdays are “barn days,” and officers not only take care of the horses, but also procure feed and hay and do other jobs, like dragging pastures to break up manure. Some tasks, like feeding the horses, mucking stalls, cleaning out trailers, and cleaning and maintaining the facility, must be done every day.
Mounted patrol officers are trained in search and rescue techniques, as well as crowd control, and work at events like The Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival and the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo. Because they are up so high on their mounts, they can quickly spot and respond to incidents that need police intervention. In crowd control situations, one officer on horseback is generally as effective as 10 on the ground, Engel says. “The mounted officers are able to clear crowds without causing panic, as people generally yield to horses because of their size. Mounted officers rarely have to make any physical contact with citizens, but provide very visible direction,” he says. Mounted officers are fully equipped with belts, guns, handcuffs and radios— “just the same as we would be in a patrol car,” Koska says. They also wear the same uniform, except for the addition of boots and helmets.
On a typical day, however, the officers warm up the horses in the arena, then ride around a busy park, neighborhood, or shopping center. “We are a visible presence wherever we go, and that’s going to deter crime in the end. We try to go to the most populous areas of the city that we can,” Engel says. House loves children, so she particularly enjoys talking to the ones she meets while she is patrolling. “One of my favorite things is to see how kids react to us. They love us,” she says. “This helps children to see they can approach police officers.”
Everywhere they go, the horses are the officers’ introduction to the citizenry, providing a valuable public relations service. “People who ordinarily would not come and talk to a policeman will come and talk to us because we are on a horse,” Engel says. “It puts a different face on the department,” Koska agrees. “It shows a different side.”
“The Chief of Police’s vision for this was a wonderful thing for the city,” Engel says. “It’s reaping rewards on a daily basis. We talk to people almost every day. We want to share the horses. Everybody here absolutely loves their job.”
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