St. Petersburg Police Department’s mounted patrol is expressing his artistic side.
One of the horses, Jacob, is trying his hoof at painting.
“I had to create a special horse-proof paint brush to get him used to holding that and waving it around,” Officer Jason Hughes said.
A few weeks after making the brush, Officer Hughes introduced the canvas and the paint to Jacob.
“It’s pretty awesome,” he said. "When he first did it, he grabbed the brush and painted everything around him. He hit the canvas on accident.”
Jacob has created some pretty colorful pieces of art but he hasn’t decided what he wants his style to be.
In the meantime his skills on the canvas are helping with his skills in policing the streets of downtown St. Petersburg.
“Anything you expose [horses] to that’s new and unusual, it builds their confidence and that’s key to what we do,” Hughes said.
The department wants to work with local galleries in downtown St. Petersburg to display Jacob’s art. They hope to eventually auction off some of the pieces for charity.