Mounted patrol to be introduced at Homecoming game, implemented during spring semester

INSIDE TXST

Lane Fortenberry | October 26, 2023

Texas State University students, staff, and faculty will soon be introduced to the two newest members of the University Police Department (UPD), Duke and Lyndon.

During the Homecoming football game against Troy University on Saturday, Oct. 28, Officer Haley McClaran and Officer Aleysha Ortiz will introduce Duke and Lyndon to the university as part of a new mounted patrol unit.

Texas State will be the first Texas university with a mounted horse patrol unit as part of their UPD.

“Everybody is going to know who they are,” said UPD Captain Daniel Benitez. “They’ll have a clear understanding that the horses are still in training, though.”

During the game, attendees can meet Duke and Lyndon on the west side of the stadium and take pictures with them. Officer McClaran and Officer Ortiz will be there in full uniform, passing out information and promotional items.

The plan is to bring them onto the field during a timeout and make an announcement on the jumbotron and public announcement system to formally introduce the mounted patrol to attendees.

Duke and Lyndon will live at Freeman Ranch, a university research facility. UPD will use the rest of the fall semester to train the horses on campus terrain to get accustomed to the university environment.

“In addition to the terrain training, the two officers have to build a connection with the horses to become in sync with each other,” Captain Benitez said. “It could take a couple of weeks or a couple of months. It just depends on their connection with each other. The two officers will cross train so they can ride either horse.”

Once the mounted patrols are fully trained, they plan to be implemented at the beginning of the spring 2024 semester. The times they’ll be patrolling campus will vary day to day so different students will see them on different days.

UPD plans to have a mounted patrol presence during the high traffic hours on campus between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. five days a week. Events, feeding times and other daily routines will factor into the horse patrol times.

“If they work a football game, they probably won’t show up on Friday,” Captain Benitez said. “They would work Saturday and be off on Sunday. Just like human beings, the horses need their days off.”

While the mounted patrol will train with and maintain crowd control, that isn’t the main focus of the new UPD members.

“Their main focus is to be a presence in potential higher crime areas and high traffic areas on campus to provide safety for students, staff, and faculty,” Captain Benitez said. “We hope the mounted patrol will help deter the crime rate.

“The other focus is to further engage with our community. We want to meet people and to enhance our bond through these horses. We want to create an environment where people aren’t afraid to approach an officer for questions or for help.”