All of us are familiar with the use of horses in police work. Mounted patrols are a familiar sight on the streets and in the green spaces of our major cities. But horses are also used to prevent crime before it can reach the meaner of our cities’ streets. One such use is the Texas Rural Communities, Inc. (TRC) Heritage Intervention Programs, called Buffalo Soldier Heritage and Vaquero Heritage. The Buffalo Soldier curriculum was developed by Dr. David Williams, an educator who is also a black historian and author. The Vaquero curriculum was developed by Dr. Andres Tijerina, a noted historian and published author in Mexican-American history. Planning and conceptualization for the programs began five years ago for Buffalo Soldier Heritage and four years ago for Vaquero. The first actual camps for those programs were, respectively, in 1995 and 1996. Second-career racehorses are an indispensable part of the program’s success.

“Horses are the key essential tool for Vaqueros and Buffalo Soldiers,” according to David Galvan, the programs’ executive director. “In order for us to accomplish a successful prevention program for at-risk youth we need the horse.

“The bonding between youth and horses is phenomenal,” he continued. “There is some kind of connection between the boy and his horse, a sort of partnership. The racehorses we receive come from their fast-paced life and they calm down here, just as, say, a boy formerly involved in a gang calms down when he’s part of one of our programs. They seem to adjust well to being outdoors and they are therapeutic for each other. Calves and dogs, for example, could possibly work in our programs. But they are not essential.”

However, he emphasized, “There is no such thing as a Vaquero without a horse