Posted: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 5:00 am

Ildefonso Ortiz | The Monitor


Delcia Lopez
The Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector announces the return of horseback mounted patrols during a news conference Sept. 16, 2011, at the McAllen Station.

EDINBURG — In 2011, the Border Patrol turned to a trusty old ally to bolster its presence in the Rio Grande Valley Sector: the horse.

Now, the mounted patrol unit, which counted five horses when it was first brought back in 2011, has grown to include 16 horses, about 20 agents, three wranglers and three supervisors, said Henry Mendiola, Border Patrol spokesman.

Despite having horses for just over two years and being one of the agency’s sectors with the smallest numbers of mounted patrols, the RGV Sector’s unit has racked up impressive numbers. So far in 2013, the RGV horse patrols have accounted for 1,200 apprehensions.

“Many times when the subjects run, just by seeing the horse coming at them, they just stop,” said Mario Morales, mounted patrol leader. “It works as a deterrent.”

Riding horse patrols along the Rio Grande is a family tradition for Morales, whose father has been a rider for the USDA tick riders for more than 40 years.

“I’ve been around horses all of my life,” Morales said.

In Morales’ line of work, the steeds let mounted agents reach areas not accessible by ATV or other vehicles, he said.

But “the most important asset is stealth,” he said. “The horse lets us approach a subject quietly without tipping them off like you would with an ATV.”

HISTORY

When the Border Patrol was formed in 1924, agents had to provide their own horses, which were the preferred method of transportation until 1935, when the agency began using vehicles, Mendiola said.

While the Border Patrol’s RGV Sector, which covers 17,000 square miles, has sporadically deployed horse patrols, the horses previously were leased from local ranchers and numbered about five total, Mendiola said.

During the time of leased steeds, “you rode them and that was it,” Morales said. “Now since the rider cares for the horse, you get to know the animal and bond with it. Their senses are very developed so they notice threats before you. If you know your animal, you are able to pick up on those cues.”

The horses were adopted from the federal Bureau of Land Management, which helps wild horses find suitable homes. Border Patrol agents get them when they’re barely domesticated and then hone their skills until the horse becomes like an extension of the rider, Morales said.

“Mounted patrols have a long history with our agency,” Mendiola said. “They have been here since the beginning and continue to be an effective tool of border enforcement,” Mendiola said.

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