FROM HORSEBACK, AN APPEAL TO 'SAY NAY'

WEST HARTFORD -- Troopers from the First Company Governor's Horse
Guards swung by Braeburn School Friday morning to spread their
anti-drug message: "Say Nay to Drugs."

Dozens of fifth-graders sat on the school's playfield and watched
intently as the company trotted on the field and demonstrated basic
formations. After the company finished, it lined up in front of the students.

Pfc. David Perry, coordinator of the "Say Nay" program, quickly asked
what the students thought.

"Cool?" a few pupils said.

Then a few more joined the chorus with more certainty. "Cool!" the group said.

In the first of two presentations, a horse snorted loudly, scaring
some of the students and prompting a quick "whoa" from a few others.

Students have been hearing the drug-awareness message for years, but
never quite like this, Braeburn Principal Natalie Simpson said.

"Adding horses gives it a whole new element for these kids," said
Mary Ellen Diot, a technology paraprofessional at Braeburn who also
has been a company member for two years.

Braeburn is one of six schools in Connecticut that will get visits
from the Horse Guards as part of the "Say Nay to Drugs" program. The
program and its presenters place a special importance in traveling
across the state to teach kids about dangerous drug use, Perry said.

"All of us have kids, I work in a jail. I see it on a daily basis how
important the message is," said Perry.

National Guard personnel also were at Braeburn, where students
checked out a military ambulance.

The theme of the Horse Guards' presentation complemented studies on
health, public safety and drug abuse that are part of the curriculum
in West Hartford schools, Simpson said.

"They will remember it and they'll remember the message because of
the way it was delivered," Simpson said.

The "Say Nay" program was developed years ago and modeled after the
nationwide Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. The program
focuses on the relationship between rider and horse to teach children
about discipline, self-esteem, training and drug awareness. The Horse
Guards visited students in Plainville last week and next will visit
students in Avon.

"Programs like this are great because it reinforces what we teach,"
said Officer David Cavedon, one of several town police officers who
visit West Hartford classrooms year-round to discuss issues ranging
from gangs and drugs to bicycle safety.