Army will end most of its ceremonial horse programs

The U.S. Army’s history is closely tied to its cavalry units, those soldiers who rode into battle on horseback. But the service announced Tuesday that it’s moving toward a future without the ceremonial horses and will put most of them up for adoption.

The Army, however, will keep operating the Old Guard ceremonial caisson units at Joint Base San Antonio and Arlington National Cemetery for burial honors.

Ceremonial cavalry units will be closed down at bases including Fort Cavazos in Texas, whose horses were showcased during the military parade in Washington on June 14, which was the Army’s 250th anniversary and also President Donald Trump’s birthday.

Army spokesperson Steve Warren said 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.

The Army estimates that closing down the units will save about $2 million a year, and the changes are being made as part of its overall warfighting realignment, Warren said.

The Trump administration has moved to cut costs across the federal government and directed changes at the Pentagon, like reducing top military leadership positions that it says will promote efficiency. Pentagon leaders have faced pushback from Democratic lawmakers for spending on the deployment of troops to protests in Los Angeles and expected costs to turn a Qatari jet into Air Force One.

The Army is giving the affected bases 12 months to shutter the ceremonial cavalry units, and 141 horses will be adopted outside the military, Warren said. Some horses may be donated to organizations, but none will be sold, he said.

The horses “are part of the Army family, we’re going to treat them with compassion,” Warren said.

The Army has just recently resumed caisson operations at Arlington National Cemetery after an investigation found the horses in those units were mistreated, left to graze in lots with little grass, leading them to consume sand and gravel. Two horses died in 2022, and caisson operations were suspended until earlier this year.

The Arlington National Cemetery 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 just across the river from Washington.