(Minor Spoilers) Having had just about all he could take in risking his life saving mentally disturbed New Yorkers from killing themselves, like jumping off roofs and fire escapes, NYPD cop Tony Spampatta finally got the job of his dreams. Tony was reassigned to the NYPD Mounted Police Unite stationed in New York's Central Park.
Things got off the wrong foot for Tony the very first day on his new job. Having former rodeo cowboy Lonnie "Lucky" Wellington as his partner got Tony a bit hot under the collar in that he, unlike Lonnie, didn't know a thing about horses much less how to ride them! This became evident as soon as Tony got on his assigned police horse "Steve". The high strung equine after taking Tony for an unwanted ride in and around Central Park threw him, head first, into the duck pound where almost ended up drowning!
Determined to succeed as a New York mounted policeman Tony grudging took his partner Lonnie's, a genuine Montana cowboy, advice to keep from being sent back to his old job as a police negotiator with mentally disturbed people. The advice that Tony got from Lonnie which among other things was eating a Nathans Frankfurter smeared with, God help us all, mayonnaise not the traditional mustard ketchup chili or relish! Tony's efforts in trying to get his out of state partner Lonnie to become more of a New Yorker not only got him hooked on Nathan's Franks he also got his horse "Steve" hooked on them as well! For the rest of the movie "Steve" would eat nothing else making him a problem every time that he and his mount Tony passes a frankfurter stand!
It's when these two wise guy wannabe's Mickey and Nickey got involve in trying to sell a dangerous 500 pound Bengal Tiger to a private, also wannabe, big game hunter that the two odd ball couple mounted policemen really proved their worth. To both the New York police Department as well as the terrified public at large.
Slap stick comedy with Tony & Lonnie chasing the big cat from the wilds of Central Park, where the tiger made its home, down to the sandy beaches of Conley Island where the big cat is taken, after being tricked into getting into their van, by his kid or cat-nappers Mickey & Nickey.
It's in the end that Tony finally realizes what a good friend not only Lonnie but his horse "Steve" is by not only capturing the two cat-napping bozos, with the help of "Tony the Tiger" himself, but having "Steve" save him, who couldn't swim a lick, from drowning off the Conley Island pier.
Having gotten their man, or men, and the ferocious big cat back into custody, a jail cell and zoo, the two mounted policemen ride into the sunset or, being on the east coast, better yet sunrise on the Conley Island boardwalk as the movie finally comes to and end.
The very touching ending to the movie has Tony keep his mount, or horse, "Steve" from being made into dog food by the NYPD by taking the responsibility for paying all his food, Nathan Franks don't come cheap, and medical bills. That's the least Tony could do in that "Steve" not only saved his life but save Tony from risking it by trying to save those, mentally disturbed New Yorkers, who don't care that much about their own.
