Cowboy Border Logic
I’m Susan Allen dealing with the Mexican border has been a hot potato at the Republican Presidential debates but when Open Range returns I’ll tell you about a Border Patrol that is taking a novel approach and applying some cowboy logic . Back in the 1920’s if you wanted to serve on the Border Patrol you needed a horse and good money management because despite giving you a badge and pistol plus horse feed, $140 a month didn't go far. Yet without today’s drug cartel it wasn’t as dangerous, especially since most illegal were Chinese laborers. Times have change and while politicians debate electric fences, armed guards and drones a five year old mustang named Clyde is finding drugs in the rough Rio Grande border stretch where ATV’s can’t travel. It’s a win-win for both Cyde and the Border Patrol. Most mustangs are fated to spend life in dismal BLM holding facilities but a lucky few are selected and sent into prisons where they are trained to be savvy, dependable sure footed mounts. You can’t slip anything by Clyde, like my old rope horse Smokey, Clydes ears prick at the slightest movement and smugglers are often surprised when Clyde quietly sneaks up on their encampment. To date, Clyde has been involved with the seizure of more than 700 pounds of marijuana. The horses patrol in pairs and the eleven animals used in this region are accredited with 355 arrests and seizing more than 1900 pounds of drugs. For now the horses and cowboy border patrols are a confusing presence but it’s expected in the near future cartels will figure out how to change tactics to outwit horseback patrols.
