The solemn clip-clop of a horse-drawn hearse has long been a hallmark of a military funeral, the final rites of a soldier carried out by some of the ceremonial horses the U.S. Army still keeps, a relic of its cavalry tradition.
But soon most will vanish. The Army announced this summer that it will shut down the majority of its ceremonial cavalry units to save money and reposition itself as a “warfighting” entity, according to Steve Warren, a spokesman.
The Army’s horses do things like march in parades, stand sentry at memorials and, most notably, pull caissons, which were once used to carry ammunition but are now used as military funereal wagons, including the one that carried President Jimmy Carter in January.
By cutting its corps of horses, known as its Military Working Equids, at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Cavazos in Texas, Fort Sill in Oklahoma, Fort Irwin in California, Fort Carson in Colorado and Fort Riley in Kansas, the Army said it would save about $2 million a year.
The programs have a year to wind down operations. The equid program included 236 animals, with horses as well as pack-carrying mules and donkeys, and 141 of them will be put up for adoption or donated to vetted new owners.
“They are part of the Army family, we’re going to treat them with compassion,” Warren said in a news conference.
No U.S. Army horses have been deployed in combat since 1942, when a cavalry regiment rode into the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The tradition of a horse at a presidential funeral dates back to George Washington’s time, according to information from the White House Historical Association. His 1799 funeral included “the general’s horse, with his saddle, holsters, and pistols,” Tobias Lear, Washington’s personal secretary, wrote, “led by two grooms.”
Two ceremonial units will remain open, one at Joint Base San Antonio and one at Arlington National Cemetery. The Arlington caisson unit used to perform about six funerals a day, five days a week, averaging nearly 2,000 a year, according to the historical association.
Caisson services were suspended at the cemetery in 2023 after two horses died there the year before. An investigation found they were eating gravel because of a lack of grass in their paddocks. Equine funeral processions resumed in Arlington earlier this year after the unit was overhauled.
This is not the first time military horses have been put up for adoption. Periodically, they must be retired, and some find homes with the public. In 2023, a Morgan Percheron cross named Klinger retired after leading Arlington funeral processions for two decades with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment Old Guard Caisson Platoon.
Klinger is the star of a children’s book, “Klinger, a Story of Honor and Hope,” and participated in over 5,000 funerals, according to the Equus Foundation, a horse welfare nonprofit organization. He appeared in the funerals of President Ronald Reagan and Senators Bob Dole and John McCain, among others.
Post retirement, he went to graze at Barristers’ Barnyard, a stable with a petting zoo and an event space in Zebulon, N.C., after he was adopted by the owners, the Turner family, who fell in love with him on a visit to Arlington, according to a report by WRAL News.
“We just wanted to give these horses that gave so much of themselves, for how many years they’ve been with the Army, a place where they aren’t asked to do anything but be pets,” Olivia Turner, his new owner, told WRAL.
Sarah Maslin Nir is a Times reporter covering anything and everything New York … and sometimes beyond.
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