Ten riders and six horses carry out surveillance missions on the public highway, patrol and carry out arrests in the capital of the Riviera.
“When 600 kilos of muscles rush over you, it calms!”, Assure his squires. Sunday afternoon, several young people from Nice who came to fight in the port district had the bitter experience. Called in as reinforcements by the national police, two riders from the equestrian brigade of the municipal police intervened at a gallop to restore order, when a general fight had broken out. In the midst of tear gas and the tumult, the mounted police managed to put belligerents to flight and help their colleagues on foot and on motorbikes to carry out a dozen arrests.
Three days earlier, the two imposing mounts of this same elite corps, founded eleven years ago, had calmly secured the solemn ceremony of national homage to the victims of terrorism, on the hill of the castle.
“A useful brigade during flagrant offenses”
In Nice, six horses (mainly “French saddles”) patrol the city center every day of the year. They are ridden by ten particularly experienced riders since they all hold at least a “Galop7” and almost all have passed through the Republican Guard. This is the case of Sébastien Perignat, who created this brigade at the request of the mayor of the city Christian Estrosi. “We patrol in the middle of the public, in sometimes tense situations,” he says. So we cannot afford to have average riders ”.
For this former Major of the National Gendarmerie, the horse does not lack assets in terms of public security. “First, it allows us to be seen,” he says. Its intimidating presence can discourage malicious people. And then it allows us to see far. On horseback, you can look over hedges and barriers. We can also move forward without making noise, which can be useful when intervening in flagrant offenses ”.
“The DNA of the municipal police”
When they are not patrolling, in the event of bad weather for example, the riders and their equines train at the municipal equestrian center, to the west of the city. Work in “career” which allows men and horses to work on their automatisms, develop their muscles and forge links. Because what unites the men of the equestrian brigade to their horses goes beyond the professional framework. Civil servants do not hesitate to devote part of their personal time to the welfare of these animals, which sometimes begin their training as early as four years old. Once their horses are reformed, the police also make sure to offer them a well-deserved retirement in the best equestrian sites in France.
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In the coming months, this unit should see its skills increase. “The equestrian brigade is part of the DNA of the municipal police in Nice,” explains Anthony Borré, the first deputy mayor, in charge of security. Its members are among the best experts in France and the close link that this brigade has forged with the population and visitors is exceptional ”.
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