{"id":203557,"date":"2026-03-13T20:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/203557\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T20:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:54:14","slug":"el-paso-county-sheriffs-office-mounted-unit-introduces-2026-equine-partners-el-paso-county-sheriffs-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/203557\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office Mounted Unit Introduces 2026 Equine Partners \u2013 El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

The El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office is proud to introduce the equine partners serving with the Mounted Unit in 2026. These horses bring diverse backgrounds rooted in ranch work, service, and reliability\u2014qualities essential to mounted patrol operations, training, and community engagement across El Paso County.<\/p>\n

The Mounted Unit plays a critical role in patrol operations, search and rescue (people and property) incidents, crowd management, ceremonial functions, and public-facing events. Each horse is carefully selected for temperament, soundness, and proven work ethic, then trained to meet the operational demands of law enforcement service.<\/p>\n

New Equine Partners for 2026<\/p>\n

Vader
-Black Quarter Horse
-10 years old
-Approximately 15.2 hands tall
Background: Working cattle ranch<\/p>\n

Jack
-Red Roan Quarter Horse
-13 years old
-Approximately 15.1 hands tall
Background: Ranch horse supporting retired soldiers learning how to \u201ccowboy\u201d<\/p>\n

Guappo
-Paint Quarter Horse\/Draft Cross
-10 years old
-Approximately 16 hands tall
Background: Working cattle ranch<\/p>\n

Continuing Service in 2026<\/p>\n

Pete
-Flea-bitten Quarter Horse
-18 years old
-Approximately 15.2 hands tall
Background: Working horse ranch<\/p>\n

All Mounted Unit horses have successfully completed the El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office Mounted Unit training requirements and have participated in multiple school-based training and familiarization opportunities, ensuring they are prepared for operational deployment and public interaction.<\/p>\n

Members of the Mounted Unit\u2014led by Sergeant Jeremy Juhl, Deputies Chris Herman, and\u00a0Larry Murphy\u2014regularly lead and support mounted-unit training for agencies across Western Colorado and neighboring states, sharing best practices and advancing regional law-enforcement standards.<\/p>\n

Funding for the purchase of equine partners Guappo and Vader was made possible through a generous donation from God\u2019s Pantry, a local nonprofit organization located in the Security-Widefield area of unincorporated El Paso County. The Mounted Unit is also supported through partnerships with community organizations, including the Norris Penrose Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mounted Unit is both a critical public-safety asset and a living connection to the roots of law enforcement in the American West,\u201d said El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal. \u201cBy investing in our horses, our deputies, and advanced training, we honor our Western heritage, preserve the culture of the Sheriff\u2019s Office, and maintain a modern, deployable mounted capability for patrol operations, crowd management, and high-visibility events. We are grateful to God\u2019s Pantry and the Norris Penrose Foundation for their support and partnership, which allow the El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office to lead Colorado and the Western states in mounted-unit training, readiness, and professionalism\u2014strengthening public safety for the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office Mounted Unit reflects the Office\u2019s commitment to professionalism, preparedness, and community trust. These equine partners strengthen public safety operations while reinforcing the Western heritage and traditions foundational to the Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

In the Summer of 2024, Sheriff Roybal announced the Mounted Unit would be permanently moved<\/a> to the Norris-Penrose Event Center, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office is proud to introduce the equine partners serving with the Mounted Unit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-203557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}