WASHINGTON — The return of horse-drawn caissons to Arlington National Cemetery will be delayed for months and perhaps longer, the Army said Friday, as it struggles to improve care of the horses after two died in 2022 due to poor feeding. and living conditions. .
Nearly a year after the Army suspended the use of the gray and black horses for funerals, officials said they are making progress in purchasing new horses, obtaining better equipment and improving training, facilities and attendance areas. But Maj. Gen. Trevor Bredenkamp, commander of the Military District of Washington, said getting the program back on track has been much more time-consuming and difficult than initially expected. And it will take a longer period of time to obtain enough horses to meet burial needs.
“We intend to resume activities. I can’t give you a week or a month or an estimate, but it is based on the requirements,” Bredenkamp said in a phone call with a small number of reporters. He said he doesn’t expect it to take years, but “it will take some time.” He said he would not describe the delay as “indefinite” but repeatedly acknowledged the stumbling blocks to restarting a sustainable program that protects the horses’ health.
The horses are part of the caisson platoon of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, which is best known for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the cemetery, located across the river from Washington.
Two of the Old Guard platoon horses, Mickey and Tony, had to be euthanized within days of each other in February 2022. Both died from impact to the colon.
The military discovered that the horses had very little grass on their pastures and that they consumed sand and gravel from the ground while eating the low-quality hay they were fed. The fields were littered with construction debris and manure and were only large enough to support six or seven horses, nowhere near the 64 that were using the fields when Mickey and Tony died, an Army investigation has found.
At the time, officials said the conditions were the result of mismanagement, lack of resources and a poor understanding of the horses’ needs. They also said soldiers needed better training on how to care for them.
On Friday, Bredenkamp said the military is struggling to find enough horses to purchase and to find nearby locations large enough to keep and train the horses. The service will also receive lighter caissons and give soldiers more extensive training to ride and care for the horses.
Ray Alexander, cemetery superintendent, said there are 27 to 30 funerals per day at Arlington Monday through Friday, and of those, six to eight are eligible for escort awards. To meet that demand without exceeding the appropriate workload for the horses, Bredenkamp says they need six teams of horses.
Currently, he said, they have 42 horses cared for at a professional facility in Virginia. Two years ago there were 60 horses on the program, but many had to retire.
Over the past year, the military has used a hearse or other vehicle instead of the caisson. And at ceremonies for Army and Marine Corps officers who were colonels or higher, a riderless horse walks behind the caisson.