U.S. Army Is Halting Most of Its Ceremonial Horse Programs

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/us/army-halting-ceremonial-horses.html

U.S. Army Is Halting Most of Its Ceremonial Horse Programs
The animals participate in funerals, parades and other events. The cost-cutting measure is expected to save $2 million a year.
By Sarah Maslin Nir
Aug. 30, 2025

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.

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