A viral video circulating Reddit and social media this week shows a man in Los Angeles, California, following two mounted police officers through the city while absolutely roasting them, mocking their boots, their horses, their jobs, and the general absurdity of cowboy cosplay in the middle of a modern city.
The video, shared by user FilmthepoliceLA, captures the tail end of what appears to be an ongoing confrontation. The man, filming from behind, can be heard shouting:
โI donโt see men riding animals–I see animals riding horses”
His sarcasm is relentless. He berates the mounted officers for โleaving horse shit everywhereโ and criticizes their spurs and cowboy boots as unnecessary and archaic. One of his sharpest jabs: โYou dress like a clown to go harass poor people, then let your horse take a dump on the sidewalk like itโs part of the job.โ
The man also calls out a deeper issue. โI saw cops helping ICE beat people up. What the hell are you doing?โ he yells, referencing past incidents where L.A. officers allegedly assisted federal immigration agents in violent crackdowns. In the videoโs caption, FilmthepoliceLA notes: โFirst time bumping into horse cops since they were documented beating the shit out of women and old people during ICE protests.โ
The video sparked a flood of commentary. Many Redditors were quick to side with the man.
โI canโt believe there are grown ass men in 2025 in LOS ANGELES putting on little cowboy boots/spurs and hats every morning to go play sheriff.โ SexyFlyWhiteGuy
โThey give locals in Santa Monica tickets for having your dog even a foot on the beach… while the horse is shitting right there.โ sweatgod2020
โThey get to cosplay as little cowboys while they break the bones of 80 year olds.โ GoProOnAYoYo
The debate also sparked conversations about animal welfare. โI grew up around horses,โ wrote one commenter. โIโve never met a single person who thinks spurs are okay to use.โ Another added, โEven the RCMP donโt wear spurs, only for decoration during parades.โ
Mounted police in cities like L.A. have long been a controversial fixture. Supporters argue they offer crowd control advantages. Critics see them as symbolic excess that are expensive, impractical, and designed more for show than service.
Or as one Redditor put it bluntly:
โWe give cops SO much money they all get their own pony.โ
While clearly furious, the manโs timing and delivery earned praise for being both righteous and genuinely funny. Several commenters said he โmade my dayโ or compared him to a real-life satirical character. One suggested that if the police insist on LARPing as 1800s lawmen, someone should follow them around dressed as a bandit and play it out.
Whatever your stance on horse cops, one thingโs clear: L.A. isnโt the Wild West, and plenty of residents are done pretending otherwise.
