Home / News / Kids, Troopers, and Horses: A 35-year Tradition at A&O

Kids, Troopers, and Horses: A 35-year Tradition at A&O

---

February 26th, 2026

Since 1991, Alpha & Omega Mounted Security Patrol has made kids a priority. Our earliest assignments at shopping malls were to deliver Santa Claus to cheering groups of children. They delighted in Santa, of course, but a horse drawn sleigh or Santa on a horse completed the fairy tale vision of a traditional Christmas. Our yearly Christmas parties at The Woodlands still attract hundreds of families to share hot chocolate, cookies, giveaways, character appearances, and photos with the horses in their holiday finery.

A&O helped Killeen Mall celebrate Christmas by delivering Santa in May. Everyone welcomed the military troops home from the Gulf war (which ended in February 1991) with all the trimmings of Christmas.

In 2010 we reissued the coloring book, originally created for the children in 1991. This book is still distributed today at the many events attended by mounted patrol riders. Kids love the detailed story about how a rider spends their day and the line drawings of their mounts, equipment, and interactions with kids.

The Trooper Trading Card series was begun in 1998 and is still in full swing with a promotion in Spring 2026 engaging children in a Golden Ticket treasure hunt. Always a popular activity with the kids, we were lucky enough to receive this photo proof in 2013 of just how loved the cards are. Perhaps this little guy is dreaming of becoming a mounted patrol rider.

A&O souvenirs are popular with the young and the young at heart. In addition to coloring books and trading cards, we have distributed coloring pages, crayons, squishy horses, bandanas, frisbees, hacky sacks, temporary tattoos, Junior Trooper badges, and more.

The first squishy horse was so loved, he came “alive.” He was named Charlie Horse, photographed all over the world, given a best friend named Sparkles, immortalized on several trading cards, starred in many promotions, featured on his own Facebook page, and distributed to young and old.

But Charlie was just the beginning of a delightful collection of A&O memorabilia. Frisbees were treasured by all age groups. Troopers took them along to give to college students at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in 2015. They have been reproduced for many music festivals to give away along with temporary tattoos and bandanas.

And, finally, our Junior Trooper program includes a special personalized badge for each child. Every year we deputize dozens of children at The Woodlands Waterway Art Festival in April. Kids stop at the booth for activities and giveaways, photos with the Troopers, and the chance to sign up for the Junior Trooper program. With parental approval, they can sign up for text notifications of Kids Club events.

Many interactions with children have been of the educational variety. A&O riders have always been eager to meet with school groups, organizations, church classes, riding groups, sports teams, birthday parties on site, and other events and associations. We are active with YMCAs, schools, universities, Make a Wish, art festivals, and many more. We often give career advice for horse enthusiasts. Or provide demonstrations of our trained horses and the skills they use on the job. We love participating in animal support groups and pet fairs.

An everyday occurrence since our beginning in 1995, and always encouraged by our riders, is a request to pet the horses. It gives us an opportunity to engage with the children and teach them safety protocols when around horses. The pettings often come with a photo request. We’ve kept track of these interactions over the years and estimate more than a million people have petted an A&O horse during our 35 years of public safety service.

In 2005 with the advancement of kids using social media, A&O added a special kids page to our website. We wanted to introduce our activities for children to a wider audience and make some of our giveaways available to children anywhere in the world. At any time now children can download the coloring book or just one of its pages. They can access Trooper trading cards and get information about kids events.

A favorite volunteer opportunity of Troopers is the chance to brighten the world of special children who come their way. They love helping dreams come true with the Make a Wish foundation.

Perhaps the most delightful story of how much kids become attached to the Troopers is that of the 6-year old Higgins twins who grew up to be A&O Troopers. When the girls were young, they frequently came to The Woodlands Mall with their mother and grandmother, mainly to ride the carousel and see the horses. They, like most of the kids, wanted to pet the horses and have a photo taken. Already accomplished riders from age 8, the girls got their own horses in their teens. Kendall got Phoenix who later became her highly trained mounted patrol horse. She reports that “collecting stray shopping carts and meeting all the little kids“ is Phoenix’s favorite part of each day. For Kendall, it’s the concerts.

“My favorite thing about being a trooper is probably working the concerts!” she said. “I enjoy the chaos and stories to be told. Even when everything does not go according to plan, we always find another way and I love that. It definitely keeps things interesting!”

For Haley and most other Troopers, horses are a prominent part of their lives. Haley has been on many riding teams including the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Junior Mounted Posse and Lone Star Cowgirls. She is a member of the Tarleton Stock Horse Team with her A&O mount and the Tarleton Equestrian Team. She calls Renegade “Ren”, her A&O mount, her best friend and partner, “not just at my job but in everything I do. We show together, we do drill and parades together, and I teach lessons with her. We also have a lot of fun trail riding and goofing off, whether it’s a funny video or late night ride; she is my sidekick and I trust her with my life.”

Haley’s favorite part of being a Trooper is unsurprisingly interacting with kids. She said, “I know exactly how they feel when they see one of the horses. It’s so exciting getting to pet a horse as a kid, and I like to recreate that feeling for them. I often share that I used to be in their shoes, and that one day maybe they will work here too!”