The state’s last remaining horseback police unit quietly disbanded after the Minneapolis Police Department’s barn lease expired last month, eliminating the agency’s most visible public relations tool.

The popular, yet often politicized mounted patrol ultimately fell victim to budget cuts following several attempts by City Council members to defund the specialized detail in recent years.

At a time when crucial public safety dollars are stretched thin, some council members questioned the need for officers on horseback, opting to instead prioritize investigations.

Elected officials reallocated more than one-quarter of the 2025 mounted patrol budget — about $150,000. It was at least the third attempt since 2009 to divert its funding.

But the equine arm of the police force continued to operate another 18 months after former Police Chief Brian O’Hara vowed to keep cops in the saddle with the help of donations. (The City Council can cut funding for a program, but department heads have the discretion to move money around.)

Yet, little fundraising occurred.

Kevin Rofidal, spokesman for the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police, said supporters of the mounted patrol were told not to solicit donations because the council was unlikely to approve the gift. Council approval is required under statute for all monetary endowments.

“It’s unfortunate,” Rofidal said of the unit’s recent disbandment. “It’s also unfortunate that they weren’t even given a chance to go raise money because I know when it comes to animals — whether it’s police dogs or horses — I think the public would be behind this ... and they weren’t even given that chance.”

Without outside dollars, the political reality of maintaining the division long-term amid ballooning overtime costs and record budget overruns seemed unlikely. Police leaders did not believe the council would sign off on another multi-year contract extension at the stables in Maple Plain. The lease expired Aug. 31.

In an interview, Mayor Jacob Frey acknowledged the value of the unit, which acted as a “force multiplier” during large events that required crowd control.

“But in a very tight budget year, we’ve had very difficult conversations and negotiations,” he said. “And it was clear we weren’t going to have the votes” to continue funding the program.

Eleven police horses remain temporarily boarded at their longtime stables in the west metro, subsidized in part by the Minneapolis Mounted Police Foundation and MPD until an agreement can be worked out to donate the horses and their equipment to another organization.

Both full-time members of the horseback unit have been reassigned within the department.

Police horses have been a fixture on Nicollet Mall for more than 30 years, where they delighted children, safeguarded major sporting events and Aquatennial parades. Law enforcement lauded them as an effective crime deterrent, providing heightened visibility for both their riders and to anyone needing help on the ground.

MPD declined to make current or former mounted patrol officers available for an interview. But in a statement, Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. Garrett Parten said the mounted patrol helped build “positive relationships with diverse communities across the city” for decades.

“The officers and their horses naturally drew people together, creating curiosity, smiles and conversations while breaking down barriers that can otherwise be difficult to overcome,” he said. “They will be deeply missed.”

This year, MPD’s budget is $229 million, about 80% of which is consumed by personnel costs.

Council President Elliott Payne previously said the council’s vote to shutter the program in 2025 was rooted in a desire to rein in spending and make hard choices about which investments provide the highest level of safety, given limited police resources. He expressed consternation this week that the mounted patrol persisted through the end of August, without the council’s knowledge or consent.

During a Monday budget committee meeting, the council learned MPD spent $129,000 on the patrol that was unbudgeted, which Payne said roughly tracks with the amount allocated in the past for boarding horses.

He called continued spending on the mounted patrol — in defiance of the council’s wishes — a sign of an “absolute breakdown in governance.”

“This body really affirmed that we don’t want to allocate spending for a mounted patrol anymore,” Payne said. “That should be the end of the conversation, and what this unbudgeted line item suggests is that this adopted budget means nothing to this institution.”

Not everyone on the council agreed with that sentiment.

“I’m devastated,” Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, one of the city’s most vocal advocates for maintaining the unit, said in an interview. “These horses can see and do things that regular officers can’t. They were a unique tool that I was glad Minneapolis had.”

Minneapolis formed the mounted patrol unit in 1994 after the Downtown Council offered to pay for an 18-month pilot program.

The towering Percheron and Clydesdales were trotted out for more than show. They helped disperse unruly crowds after weekend bar close and patrolled outside concerts and the Super Bowl.

But critics said they were an expensive, outdated version of policing that could be used to intimidate and injure people.

In late 2020, after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis officer, the City Council cut $230,000 for feeding and boarding the equine unit, which consisted of about dozen horses. MPD managed to keep the unit going, arguing they helped augment staffing amid an exodus of cops.

During the 2024 budget season, the council tried again, diverting funding from MPD’s stable lease to hire a civilian crime prevention specialist, pay for additional needle pickup in the Hiawatha neighborhood and bolster transportation for seniors.

Vetaw solemnly spoke against the move, declaring: “I can’t vote against Haven, Maximillian, Buster, Blue, Trooper, Teak, Goliath, Rooster and Cabo. Those are the horses.”

In an interview at the time, Payne called the division “antiquated,” and said elevated riders evoked plantation owners astride horses or ICE agents chasing migrants on horseback along the southern border.

City leaders said they were unaware, however, of any complaints or allegations of brutality on the part of Minneapolis’ equine patrols. In recent years, grievances have been limited to horse droppings left on the Midtown Greenway.

“Every single person that approaches us has a truly genuine joy and enthusiasm to see us,” Sgt. Adrian Infante, one of two former full-time members of the horseback unit, told the Star Tribune in 2024. He was tasked with training and deploying 21 part-time riders across the city.

“They bring a softness to the environment nowadays,” Infante added. “We are way more approachable on horseback than any officer can be in a squad car.”

The mounted patrol typically conducted more than 100 rides from April to December, making appearances outside major concerts, sporting events and community gatherings.

Their last formal appearance in Minneapolis this summer was on Aug. 4 for National Night Out.

Minneapolis police horses were conspicuously absent from the Minnesota State Fair several weeks later.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher bemoaned the loss at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, where law enforcement rely on horses daily to see above throngs of fairgoers and shepherd troublemakers toward the exits.

“What the direct psychological effect of a horse on unruly people is, I cannot be sure,” Fletcher said. “But it seems to work.”

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