The poignant sounds of the hooves of horses leading flag-draped caskets for our service members’ final resting places at the Arlington National Cemetery has been halted, as of May 23, 2023.
The primary reason for the stoppage was the deaths of several horses and the overall “mismanagement” of the Program, which exposed the horses to poor quality feed and even worse living conditions.
Although the Program was initially suspended for forty-five (45) days, on April 12, 2024, Major General Trevor Bredenkamp, the commander of the Military District of Washington, announced that the return of the horse-drawn caissons would be delayed “for months and even longer.”
The gray and black horses are part of the caisson platoon of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the “Old Guard.” This unit is entrusted for the guarding of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arlington National Cemetery.
In February of 2022, two (2) horses were euthanized after contracting colon impaction, caused by ingesting “dry, firm mass of feed, or foreign material, such as dirt or sand.”
An investigation revealed that other horses had sediment in their manure, likely because they had so little grass in their “turnout” fields and they were forced to consume gravel and sand as they ate their hay.
The “turnout” fields were where horses grazed outdoors. The fields were littered with both construction debris and manure. Even if the fields were in proper condition, they only could accommodate six or seven horses. At the time of the horses’ deaths in 2022, the fields were used to accommodate a herd of 64 horses.
Major General Allan Pepin, the former commander of the Military District of Washington, stated that the conditions which led to the halting of caisson activities, were a result of “mismanagement,” not “soldier abuse.”
According to Maj. Gen. Pepin, “the conditions reflected a lack of full understanding by Army managers of the horses needs and the training needed for the soldiers to care for them, and also a lack of resources.”
General Bredenkamp indicated the Army is struggling to purchase new black horses and finding locations large enough for the horses to be kept and trained. They will no longer acquire gray horses, because they are likelier to develop skin cancer.
The Army is also acquiring lighter-weight caissons and conducting more extensive training for the soldiers to ride and take care of the horses. Each caisson weighs more than 2,500-pounds and these caissons have not been structurally modified since 1918. Reducing the weight of the caisson will put less strain on the horses.
Also, the Army is now leasing additional pasture land and received funding from Congress to improve the stables.
The Superintendent of the Arlington Cemetery, Ray Alexander, documented that there are between 27-30 funerals per day, Monday through Friday, and of those, six to eight qualify for escort honors. To satisfy that demand, without surpassing an appropriate workload for the horses, General Bredenkamp said they need six (6) squads of horses.
Currently, according to Bredenkamp, forty-two (42) horses are being cared for in the program at a professional facility in Virginia. In 2022, there were sixty (60) horses in the program, but many had to be retired.
My Opinion: “Mismanagement” was the word used to describe the situation resulting in two (2) horses being euthanized in February 2022 and causing the halt of the caisson platoon activities.
The situation was compounded by a series of errors and omissions that should have been identified and corrected, especially by a Program that has been functioning for the past 100 years.
To begin with, Army veterinarians noted that the hay was so low in quality that it could not be easily digested by older horses. This action forced the horses to attempt to find any edible feed on the ground that was littered with manure and construction debris.
In August of 2021, the Army veterinarians surfaced this issue to the caisson platoon leadership, but the Army veterinarians made no attempt to voice their concerns above and past the caisson platoon leadership level.
The platoon leadership had no way to force the hay supplier to provide a higher-quality hay because the Army contract did not specify the nutrition value required in the hay for the horses.
The individuals that prepared the Army contracts for the hay were not contacted by the Army veterinarians to include specifying the hay’s nutritional value required for the horses. In summary, there was no long-range management program for the care of the horses.
Thus completes the “circle of mismanagement” that resulted in the deaths of two (2) horses and the suspension of the horse-drawn caisson program.
The irony of the situation was that this ceremonial program was a tradition at Arlington National Cemetery for over 100 years.
Now, hopefully, positive changes will be made in the implementation of the program, according to Major General Bredenkamp. The question I pose is:
“Why has not a deadline been established for the horse-drawn caisson program to be resumed?”
Without an established deadline to be working toward, we may not see the horse-drawn caissons performing their primary ceremonial mission until the next decade!
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran, who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio’s Hospital Chairman and the Adjutant of Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.