Super Bowl XXXiX brought teems of people to Jacksonville, Florida, creating a massive need for crowd control. Alltel Stadium seats nearly 80,000 people, but even more folks in the Jacksonville area in January 2005 were partying outside. Security personnel worked the streets in full force, driving patrol cars, riding police bikes, working on foot and on motorcycles.

And on horses!

The Jacksonville Mounted Unit, which includes six members, spearheaded law enforcement efforts from their horses.

“ We can handle mostly anything that a patrol car can do,” said Sergeant Paul Jones of the Jacksonville unit. “Crowd control was the main thing we worked on for the Super Bowl. We worked five days, and mostly at night.”

Jones’ group was backed up by five other mounted unit departments, bringing together 33 horses to help with Super Bowl control.

According to First Coast News, two rowdy men at the Super Bowl crowd tried to buck the system by hitting and shoving one of the Jacksonville horses, a mare named “Dolly.” The men were arrested for the action.

Hitting a police animal is almost as serious as striking an officer.