SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES ON PASTURE PATROL

RIVERVIEW - They swing a right leg over their horses and step
well-worn boots into the stirrups.

Settling into saddles in blue Wranglers, each man holds the reins in
his right hand and rests his left on the pommel, near the badge on his
belt.

They aren't members of an old-time sheriff's posse, but their mission
is almost the same.

Hillsborough County Deputies Lowell Cain and Larry Lingo Jr. belong to
the sheriff's agriculture unit, and they're about to patrol a weedy
cow pasture south of Progress Village Boulevard near Interstate 75.

On horseback, these deputies can patrol rural parts of the county that
are inaccessible by car and less than convenient on foot.

Calls for service include fence tampering and suspected drug activity
in remote parts of the county and late-night dispatches to find
wayward cows or horses and coax them onto a cattle trailer.

Sometimes those calls take the men away from their wives and children
for hours at a time in the middle of the night.

Until this year, the sheriff's office contracted with working cowboys
to lasso wayward cattle. At $150 per man per day, and three cowboys
needed for a typical call, the practice was deemed ineffective and
costly.

"These cowboys go from ranch to ranch," Cain said. "It could take them
a week just to get here. By that time, we could already have had our
horses out and done the job."

Cain, Lingo and Deputy Homer Brown make up the three-man agriculture
unit. Each leases the use of his own horse to the county for $1 per
year and is a full-time county employee.

Lingo's white cowboy hat sits squarely on his head, shading a sun-
reddened face and smoky sunglasses. He rides a few yards ahead of Cain
on his horse, Biscuit, and looks down at the shores of a man-made lake
for signs of tilapia poachers.

The property Cain and Lingo patrolled during this recent outing is
leased by cattle owner Clay Newsome, Lingo said.

"We've had a lot of problems with people coming in the back way,"
Lingo said. "They cut fences to go fishing or pick mushrooms. ... At 3
a.m., we get a call that the cows are back in the neighborhood, and
we've got to go get them back out."

Despite the physical demands, these deputies hold coveted spots on the
sheriff's roster. The job offers a chance to get away from street
crimes and violent criminals. Still, few patrol deputies have the
necessary skills, unit supervisor Sgt. Wayne New said.

"They've all been around horses and livestock most of their lives,"
New said. "They're a hardworking bunch. I've come in some mornings to
find that they've been out there every other night running down cattle
for three or four hours at a time."

Lingo grew up riding horses and chasing cows all across the Tampa Bay
area. He worked summers on a relative's ranch in Wyoming and competed
in rodeos. He eventually followed his father, a retired Florida
Highway Patrol trooper and Hillsborough deputy, into law
enforcement.

He worked for Bradenton and Plant City as a police officer before
joining the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in 1985. He spent
many years on street patrol and with a narcotics unit before joining
the agriculture unit six years ago.

Cain, 44, a former Plant City High School football lineman and
butcher, sits on a tall, sturdy horse named T. Because he's also tall,
he leads T away from the same low-hanging branches that Lingo passes
under easily.

He joined the sheriff's office 10 years ago, also following in the
footsteps of his father, a retired Plant City police officer.

A faded ring on the back of Cain's jeans, worn from a can of Skoal
usually in his pocket, and the whip at his side make him seem tough.
But his easy demeanor and sense of humor brush away the rough facade.

"I can't think of a single thing about this job that I don't look
forward to," he said. "I don't even mind the late-night wake-up calls.
. Well, as long as it isn't more than once or twice a week."