Texas A&M University System veterinarians and Texas A&M AgriLife education and development experts are collaborating to deliver a new training program to teach mounted patrol troops across the country all the skills they need to care for their equine partners. Masu.
AgriLife Learn courses include an introduction to horse husbandry, anatomy, physiology, disease prevention strategies, and first aid techniques.


This two-year training project is supported by the Center of Excellence for Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Texas A&M AgriLife Research.
“Whether they’re working with Mounted Police or Border Patrol, these horses keep us safe, and we do everything we can to protect them in return. We want to make sure,” said Dee Ellis, DVM, AgriLife Research veterinarian at Texas A&M. Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Ellis serves as principal investigator on the collaboration.
Other members involved in course development include:
Empowering horse riders and trainers through education
Mr Ellis said collaboration to develop the course has already begun.
The team plans to start this course by early 2026. The online course will feature a 4-5 hour course on equine fundamentals and scenario-based applications that simulate accidents that can occur in the equine field. Riders and handlers identify normal and abnormal animal responses, along with medical events and intervention strategies.
Texas A&M experts will provide skill demonstrations and additional in-person training for experienced riders. Experienced riders are equipped with all the tools they need to become instructors themselves and train new patrol officers.
“By teaching riders the basics of horse care, we hope to give mounted patrols more confidence in handling horses,” Shoemaker said. “And by publishing the educational materials compiled by this team of experts on AgriLife Learn, we hope it will serve Texas and the nation for years to come.”