First official equine member of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Mounted Patrol Unit

CHIEF

On October 17, 2018, A pony found trapped in a storm drain was rescued by a team of Houston Firefighters, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez made a request to Commissioners Court, seeing permission to adopt a miniature pony and make him the mascot of the HCSO Mounted Patrol Unit. Chief was adopted in January 2019 by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's office named the pony Chief in memory of Chief Deputy Ray Vickers, a longtime member of the mounted patrol who died in a wreck while transporting horses in 2005.