Updated 4:32 p.m.

D.C. Police has announced it will discontinue its special unit of officers on horseback following cutbacks.

“Considering the recent budget cuts by the DC Council, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions at MPD, including the disbanding of our Horse Mounted Unit,” MPD spokesperson Kristen Metzger told DCist/WAMU in an email, adding, “We will ensure the horses find a good home and the officers will be reassigned within the Special Operations Division.”

Last month, lawmakers voted to cut $9.6 million from the mayor’s proposed police budget increase for fiscal year 2021. Instead of a 3% increase as Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed, the police department received a 1.6% percent increase to its budget.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who chairs the judiciary and public safety committee, told DCist/WAMU earlier this year that the change does constitute a 5.4% reduction of MPD’s budget when compared to the 2020 revised budget, which includes an additional $40 million allocated by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The Department’s Mounted Unit included four officers and four horses that engaged with children across the city and attended protests and parades as a means of crowd control, according to the Washington Post.

This isn’t the first time the unit has been disbanded due to budget constraints. The unit was cut for 70 years until former police chief Charles Ramsey reinstated it in 2000.

A Change.org petition with nearly 1,200 signatures is calling on MPD to retain the horse unit. The petition was started by Thomas Stewart, who was part of the department’s Mounted Unit.

“The Horse Unit was, and still, is a huge success with the citizens of the District of Columbia,” Stewart wrote in the petition.

Stewart adds that money the department saves by removing the program is “an immeasurable amount to pay” for the services it provides during community events, block parties, parades, crowd control, and more.

“The list is endless—not to mention, the bond the members have established with their horses.”

This story has been updated with additional information and to better reflect funding cuts from the proposed fiscal year 2021 police budget increase.