WashingtonCavalry forces, or soldiers that entered combat on horseback, have a significant role in the history of the U.S. Army. However, the agency declared on Tuesday that it will be putting the majority of the ceremonial horses up for adoption as it moves toward a future without them.
However, for burial honors, the Army will continue to use the ceremonial caisson units of the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery and Joint Base San Antonio.
At posts like Fort Cavazos in Texas, whose horses were featured in the military parade in Washington on June 14, the day of President Donald Trump’s birthday and the Army’s 250th anniversary, ceremonial cavalry units will be shut down.
Other ceremonial units will close at Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Sill in Oklahoma, Fort Irwin in California, Fort Riley in Kansas, and Fort Huachuca in Arizona, according to Army spokesman Steve Warren.
The Army is making the adjustments as part of its overall warfighting realignment, and it believes that shutting down the units will save roughly $2 million annually, Warren said.
In an effort to increase efficiency, the Trump administration has reduced spending across the federal government and made adjustments at the Pentagon, such as cutting top military leadership posts. Democratic legislators have criticized Pentagon officials for spending on troop deployments to rallies in Los Angeles and the anticipated expenses of converting a Qatari jet into an Air Force One.
According to Warren, 141 horses will be adopted by non-military organizations, and the Army is allowing the impacted facilities a year to close the ceremonial cavalry groups. None of the horses will be sold, but some might be given to charities, he said.
“We will treat the horses with compassion because they are a part of the Army family,” Warren stated.
After an inquiry revealed that the horses in those regiments were mistreated and allowed to graze in lots with insufficient grass, causing them to eat sand and gravel, the Army recently began caisson operations at Arlington National Cemetery. Caisson operations were halted till earlier this year after two horses passed away in 2022.
The Old Guard, the caisson platoon of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, which is responsible for protecting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, which is situated directly across the Potomac from Washington, includes the horses from the cemetery.
