THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504200188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
TAKE THREE HORSES, a baker's dozen Virginia Beach police officers and a trainer. Send them off to a show in Wakefield to mix with a large, diverse group of civilian horse lovers and what do you get?
A bunch of ribbons (17 in all), some new friends and a whole lot of respect, according to the officers in the Virginia Beach Police Mounted Unit.
``At first they took us real seriously; they were a little standoffish,'' Master Police Officer Chuck Lauchner said. ``Then they relaxed. Seems like the longer the day went on, the more fun we had.''
That was especially true when they got to the less serious events that came toward the end of the day. Lauchner, who grew up in Kempsville, took first place in the barrel race, second in the flag race and third in the ride-a-buck, a bareback event in which a rider attempts to put his horse through the paces while holding a dollar bill between his thigh and the horse's side.
The biggest win for the Virginia Beach team was Lauchner's first place and reserve championship in the Adult Novice Walk-Trot. The team also included Dean Nickodemus, a Michigan native, and James Avery who calls Beaufort, N.C., home.
Lauchner and his mount, Breaker, took a total of eight ribbons. Nickodemus, riding Salina, took three and Avery, riding Mingo, took six.
They were accompanied to the April 1 show by their trainer, Virginia Godwin, operator of the Chesapeake Training Center, and all of their fellow officers in the mounted unit.
``They gave up a day off to go and support us,'' Lauchner said.
Support, of all kinds, is crucial both for the shows and for the day to day operations. ``We have great support from our trainer and from the chain of command and from the Friends of the Mounted Unit,'' Lauchner said.
``And from the people who have given us horses,'' Avery added. ``Don't forget to tell people that we're always looking for more horses,'' he emphasized.
The Wakefield event came in the middle of the unit's nine-week academy now under way at Camp Pendleton. The academy provides training both for veterans and new recruits to the mounted unit, which is composed of 12 officers under the direction of a sergeant.
Candidates for mounted patrol duty must have at least three years experience with the department and have had no disciplinary action taken against them in the preceding 12 months.
``We used to just be a summer unit,'' Lt. A.J. Guertin, the supervisor, said, ``but we ride year around now.''
During the winter they patrol mall areas, do community policing in target neighborhoods and go anywhere else that their presence is needed. Summer is still their time of highest visibility, however.
``They're great P.R.,'' Guertin said of the horses and their riders. So popular are they with the tourists that they'll be putting on a daily mini-parade this year. Plans are to have them parade straight down 18th Street from Arctic to the Boardwalk as a group, then fan out from there to cover the areas from the oceanfront back to Parks Avenue.
The changing of the guard ceremonies will start next month when the unit takes to the streets for the tourist season.
``It will give a good opportunity to get pictures of them,'' Guertin said. Demand for snapshots of the mounted patrol are so great that people who would usually be disgruntled have asked the officers to pose for or with them.
``Even some of the people we give (traffic) tickets to seem to enjoy it,'' Avery said.
The next show for the Virginia Beach Mounted Patrol will be one for law enforcement teams to be held in Maryland later this year. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Beach officer Chuck Lauchner, right, and his mount, Breaker, took a
total of eight ribbons in a Wakefield horse show. Also garnering
ribbons were James Avery, left, and Dean Nickodemus, center.
by CNB