With the prospect of more anti-government protests a strong likelihood in 2011, the recent violent clashes between mounted police officers and students raises questions about the welfare of the horses used in these situations.
The horses, who had no noticeable protection to their bodies, were subjected to frighteningly high levels of violence. From one side, missiles rained down upon them and, from the other, police officers brutally kicked spurs into their reluctant mounts and used truncheons to drive the horses forward into terrifying and chaotic scenes.
Police horses undergo training for such mentally and physically demanding situations. However, in the testing circumstances of serious unrest, a horse’s impulse would be to flee but they are prevented from doing so by severe physical restraint. Submissive control comes from the use of multi-pressure double-reined Pelham bits, which subject the horse to considerable pain in the mouth and on the head - should the horse try to resist. And spurs, forcibly applied, intimidate the horse into capitulation.
Says Animal Aid’s Horse Consultant, Dene Stansall:
‘Brutal methods have been used over centuries to force horses into violent battles. Today, horses remain as tools for crowd control by the police. It is time for this animal abuse to stop and for horses no longer to be used in what is essentially a dispute between two groups of people.’
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_other/ALL/2408//
Police horses undergo training for such mentally and physically demanding situations. However, in the testing circumstances of serious unrest, a horse’s impulse would be to flee but they are prevented from doing so by severe physical restraint. Submissive control comes from the use of multi-pressure double-reined Pelham bits, which subject the horse to considerable pain in the mouth and on the head - should the horse try to resist. And spurs, forcibly applied, intimidate the horse into capitulation.
Says Animal Aid’s Horse Consultant, Dene Stansall:
‘Brutal methods have been used over centuries to force horses into violent battles. Today, horses remain as tools for crowd control by the police. It is time for this animal abuse to stop and for horses no longer to be used in what is essentially a dispute between two groups of people.’
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_other/ALL/2408// 
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hang on a minute...
13.01.2011 12:07
But your post is rather weaselly, in that it doesn't differentiate between cops and the people they're attacking, e.g.:
'violent unrest': eh, the cops surround and attack a demo, which is what happened on 9th December.
'a dispute between two groups of people': give it a rest, you sound like the BBC talking about Israel and the Palestinians.
squatticus
Terrible
13.01.2011 14:25
The poor horses didn,t cause this bad economy, did they. They didn,t award themselves millions of £s bonuses or, put another way, billions of tons of lovely hay to munch. Same for all those donkeys and camels, loaded with excessive weights, in foreign countries. Poor souls!
Francis H. Giles
positive action
13.01.2011 15:04
You'll on the next demo to kick off, in a bloc with your mates literally throwing the oppressors off the horseys' backs then?
Perhaps the horses deserve the day off. There's enough horse tranquiliser on our scene to send them all into horsey-happy-place for a day. The only stables I know of is the one at Imber Court, by Thames Ditton. Less security than the average police car park.
I do hope that the moralising without pointing any fingers is not code for 'You should all just calm down once they bring the horses out'. Other than those things, it's difficult to see what you might be suggesting...
dt
Fucking Sodomists Rapists Cops
13.01.2011 16:36
In a bigger picture painted it's also a methaphor for raping mother nature and the main reason why cars gots 4 wheelz is the animals 4 legs!
King Arthur
keep an eye on mounted officers at all times, a vstrategic force,
14.01.2011 20:33
I hear flag poles with strong flourescent bunting stops them from charging:)
If your really brave you can blow on horses nose& grabbing its tongue puts a horse into a trance, seriously this a vwell known equestrian technique.
Tactix