U.S. Border Patrol agent Galen Huffman leans over the saddle to look at faint tracks in a cattle trail leading up from the Mexico border.He follows the tracks at a brisk trot through thick brush, up and down into rocky washes, then pauses as his horse twitches its ears and turns around nervously.

“I have bodies,” he says, as the first of a group of 11 illegal immigrants, wrapped in hats and scarves against the chill morning air, peel themselves up from the desert floor several miles from the nearest road.

As the Border Patrol rediscovers the special abilities that horses have, mounted units are starting to play a wider role in border policing.

Agents dressed in leather chaps and broad-brimmed hats are increasingly being used to regain control over the most rugged areas of the southwest frontier with Mexico and now on the northern border with Canada.

“Their sight and hearing is much sharper than ours. When they sense someone … you feel it, and you know to get ready,” Huffman said.

While a drift toward hi-tech in border policing gathers pace, with unmanned spy planes, ground radar and an array of electronic sensors, mounted agents are confident their horses will continue to play a key role in years to come.

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Source: Reuters