Horses and Riders for Alpha & Omega Mounted Security Patrol Undergo Unusually Thorough Training
Equestrian News Release
HOUSTON, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha & Omega (A&O) Mounted Security Patrol riders will be certified in mounted patrol security techniques at the company's Operations Certification Academy, November 15 to 19, at the Lone Star Convention & Expo Center in Conroe, Texas. Participants will be trained in a variety of crowd management and situation monitoring techniques. A helicopter drill will require horse and rider to withstand several simulated chopper situations common at large events: fly-overs, hovering, circling and high speed diving.
As the only private mounted horse patrol company in the nation, Alpha & Omega stages the academies to certify riders in professional security measures. Frank Keller, chief executive officer, has instituted several new areas of focus brought about by the nation's heightened need for added security in crowded places.
"Our mounted patrols are on the front line of security at many places where the public gathers," Keller explained. "Our red-shirted troopers, sitting astride their horses eight feet in the air with a 360-degree range of vision, are often the most visible presence in a comprehensive security system. This training helps prepare riders and horses for maximum effectiveness in dangerous situations."
The academy is designed to put the trooper and mount through the most extensive, challenging situations. Riders learn to control their horses surrounded by sensory extremes like fireworks, sirens, helicopter noise, smoke and flares. The "final exam" requires that horse and rider successfully navigate an obstacle course of bridges, sprinklers, cans, and other assorted barriers.
Upon graduation, mounted patrol members are assigned to one of Alpha & Omega's sites around the nation. These may include music festivals, concerts, sports arenas, school campuses, airports, shopping malls and Business Improvement Districts. The patrols are in place at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands Town Center Improvement District, and Town & Country Village, all in the Houston area; at Chicago's United Center arena; and at a dozen amphitheaters across the country.
About Alpha & Omega: A&O patrols have guarded fans at Farm Aid, World Cup Soccer, Woodstock 94, Las Vegas Strip New Year's Eve 2000, and concerts by PHISH, Dave Matthews Band, Metallica, and Jimmy Buffet. The company has assembled the largest peacetime private cavalry ever gathered for the last three years for the Bonnaroo Music and Camping Festival in Tennessee which has attracted up to 90,000 fans each summer. A&O Troopers annually travel a collective 150,000 miles to fulfill their security posts.
Web site: http://www.mountedpatrol.com/
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