Teeter-totters rocking back and forth, brightly colored balloons dancing in the breeze, a bicycler ringing his bell, yellow and orange pool noodles being waved around and the sounds of laughter and construction noises in the air. What sounds like a day at the neighborhood park, was actually activities in a fundraising horse clinic conducted by the Scottsdale Police Mounted Unit to benefit Camelot Therapeutic Horsemanship.

Riders and their horses participated in desensitization training very similar to what the police horses experience. The purpose of the clinic was to help participant’s horses adjust to things they may encounter on the street, in parades or in a parking lot and to give their riders ideas to take home to further their horse’s education. The clinic was held at Camelot Therapeutic Horsemanship and all proceeds benefited the nonprofit organization.

The event was sold out to riders before event day and there were many people auditing as well. Riders ranged from trail riders to competitors.

"What an amazing experience," said Mary Hadsall, the executive director of Camelot. “I want to express my deep appreciation to Sgt. Bryan Brown, his officers and wranglers for their enthusiasm and attention to safety and detail.”

Chief Alan Rodbell, Scottsdale Police Department’s Chief of Police, stopped by the event to show his support. Hadsall said that funding received will be applied to Camelot's Horse Sponsorship program by supporting Paladin, one of their therapy mounts. Horse Sponsorship funding offsets the expenses incurred for feed, bedding, pharmaceuticals and adaptive equipment.

“We were so pleased to be able to raise money for Camelot,” said Sgt. Brown, head of the Scottsdale Police Mounted Unit. “Our officers had a great time and we are all committed to helping Camelot.”

There were morning and afternoon sessions held in Camelot’s covered arena, with 15 riders in each class. Riders were split up into three groups of five riders to experience each type of training available. Most of the riders experienced the exercises from horseback, while a few chose to stay on the ground with their partner in hand.

One of the stations was made up of obstacles such as stairs to climb, a horse size teeter-totter to walk over and two floor boards with brightly colored designs on them. One had fireworks on one side and a painting of a cattle guard on the other. Another board had a handicapped parking symbol for the horses to walk over. There was even a “bridge” with a sheet of metal in the middle to mimic flooring in a construction zone.

Another station was set up as a construction zone. The riders took their horses through a path with cones, construction flags and crime scene tape, various types of flooring to walk over, a bicycle and a moving stroller. The officers began the exercise by having the riders walk through the construction zone and then they upped the ante by adding numerous objects and loud construction sounds.

The third station was the sensory station and they exposed the horses to objects such as umbrellas, noisy cans on a string, pool noodles, plastic tarps, flags and floating balloons. An obstacle called the “car wash” required the horses to walk through moving streamers. According to several participants, this was one of the most challenging stations because of all of the objects horses don’t usually encounter.

“The police horses must get use to all sorts of sights, sounds and stimuli that most horses aren’t accustomed to,” said Sgt. Brown. “You never know what you might encounter on duty. We are thrilled to share this training with others.”

“This was such a great event and we hope the officers come back soon for another clinic,” said Hadsall. “It was educational, but we all had so much fun too. Not often do we get the opportunity to ‘play in a park and on the jungle gym’ with our horses.”



Camelot's mission is to improve the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities through programs of horsemanship and outdoor education, which develop self-worth, independence and active participation in the community. Camelot has been offering private lessons in the Valley at no cost to their participants for the past 27 years. To learn more, visit www.camelot-th.org.

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