If horses are spooked so easily, how can they handle a riot without freaking out let alone a busy area of people?
Horse control is a function of training and a certain amount of luck.
I remember helping the Denver Mounted Police group train for the anticipated riots at the nomination convention. We tried to simulate everything from Hippies Behaving badly to the antics of the seriously stoned, to a barrage of chartreuse tennis balls.
In this case, I asked the officer who was te leader why, since the member of teh group were mostly conservative and were volunteering their horses, trailers, trucks, fuel etc - “Why not just let the trash trash the Democraps and the Democrapic Convention?”
His answer - Well, since you put it that way, .....
Salient point is that just because the rider is uniformed, do not assume the rider and horse have had extensive riot control training.
Not that volunteers can’t perform superbly - - - - - -but I’d suggest avoiding such animals in case they act out their ‘inner animal’.
Try to imagine you are made of meat, and everything wants to eat you. That is how horses see the world, and their evolutionarily acquired behavior reflects the adaptive advantage of flight when danger appears.