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How you can help the IMPD Horse Patrol get a new home

A new home, a fresh start.

The IMPD Horse Patrol Association is looking for a permanent home, and you can help make it happen. Learn about POLO AT SUNSET on August 25, with Turner Woodard, President, IMPD Horse Patrol Association Board of Directors, and Sergeant Allan Whitesell, Supervisor, Mounted Patrol Unit.

ABOUT:

  • This unit was formed in 1983 with the idea that more patrols needed to be in the downtown area but presented in a positive way.
  • The unit started with six officers, seven horses, a truck and a horse trailer.
  • Today seven officers and eight active horses.
  • In crowd management situations, One horse is equal to 10 officers on the ground-protecting in crowds, holding a line.
  • We see the unit working at officer memorial/funeral events, community and school events, city events (Indy 500, Colts games) and patrols our Downtown and other city areas daily to keep us safe.

About Polo at Sunset

  • What most people do not know is the IMPD Horse Patrol unit is not fully funded by the City’s budget.

    • City funding pays for hay, grain, bedding, shoeing the horses, basic vet costs, officer salaries, basic facility upkeep/services/utilities and trucks/trailers.
  • The association supplements this by raising funds that support:

    • Purchasing horses, officer training and travel to those classes, fences, grooming supplies, salt blocks, tack (saddles, bridles, bits), horse training aids.
  • Polo at Sunset on Aug. 25 raises funds for the IMPD Horse Patrol and supports these costs.

  • It’s a family event that includes a flyover with a candy drop, silent auction and of course Polo!
  • A box for 10 people is $300 and includes a boxed dinner/chairs.
  • General admission also is accepted at the gate at $20 per car.

About the IMPD Horse Patrol Association need for a permanent location

  • The unit needs a permanent home.
  • Since 1983, the unit has had five horse stable locations within the city and never had a permanent home for the horses.
  • Today, IMPD Mounted Unit officers work out of “temporary” construction trailers that were donated after construction at Lilly Pharmaceutical’s campus completed 13 years ago.
  • They were never meant to be used for this long.
  • The association is raising $5 million for the construction of new stables and offices for our horses and officers.

To learn more, visit:https://impdmountedpatrol.org/

Donations are accepted online and memberships start $45.Event info:

Polo at Sunset

Hickory Hill Polo Club, Whitestown

6 to 8 p.m. (gates open at 4 p.m.)

Proceeds benefit the IMPD Horse Patrol Association