https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/a-revitalized-caisson-unit-makes-its-debut/
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Just heard something on the news about this. It sensationalized it quite a bit. Thanks for the article!
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I toured that facility some years back when I was in the neighborhood.
I asked them if many of the soldiers there had any horse experience when they arrived, and it sounded like they sort of preferred the new people to have clean slates when they got there.
It sounds like they are rethinking that position now.
I will say the horses looked good when I saw them.
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With it being Memorial Day, it’s a timely topic. I saw an article in USA Today about the caisson unit. In the last couple of years the Army has spent $28 million to address the necessary issues.
Interesting article with a few cringy moments.
Including this quote from Senator Tom Cotton R-Arkansas:
"The caisson platoon has operated for decades without shutting down and frankly, horses have been pulling wagons since the dawn of history, This is not a complicated task.”
That kind of ignorance probably led to the sad state of the Caisson livery before O’Connor & Weber were recruited 
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I’ve not read any article but the one on COTH about the U.S. Caisson .
Tom Cotton of Arkansas, in my humble opinion, consistently behaves like an idiot, so no surprise there.
I am pleased that USEF members and the PTB, have shown up to help with the Caisson horses. Now, we can be assured that those dignitaries that are taken to their grave with great ceremony, will have their beautiful equine escorts trained and treated properly .
I’ve always found the Caisson and the Caparisoned horse quite moving.
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I also found his other comment to be quite offensive, which was basically: Horses get hurt and die. So what. Big deal.
Dirtbag.
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(I copied my post from Driving).
That’s wonderful that they’ve changed the program and are rebuilding the barns. I visited the unit quite a bit when I was stationed at a college in DC from 99-01. They provided excellent care for the horses but the stalls were small and the aisles were brick, as the article says. The animals looked good back then. They even trailered the horses to nearby Great Falls for trail rides. But work was light before the war. The pace really picked up after 9-11 (I was heading to my first ship by then). It sounds like the program went downhill after that.
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The unit’s new Captain came to see my horses for a quick tutorial one afternoon. His guys Show Sheened a horse and asked him ride bareback. He slid right off while they laughed. It was an initiation, lol. He got his bearings as I showed him around my two horses. A training program is for the best. 
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Yes, the Tom Cotton comments were so arrogant and off-putting but oh so typical of certain kinds of, uhm, “people.”
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Do you think he’ll ever cotton on?
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I don’t think he’s young. So if he hasn’t by now…
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Picked up after 9-11 because you started losing WWII veterans, and increased patriotism following 9-11. My father was buried at Arlington with full military honors. The number of services conducted daily at Arlington is a bit mind blowing with a good number of those being with full military honors. My dads was 2 years ago so had the Caison. Horses looked good, healthy, a couple were a bit fresh though one took off a little from the rest of the group as we headed to the memorial site. I’m glad they are back and very happy they will be better looked after
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The horses in my dad’s internment ceremony in 2020 also seemed fine and well cared-for. Maybe things got more difficult with the pandemic. Glad things are looking up again.
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He’s really not wrong. You may not like him, but horses pulling a wagon is not rocket science. That the Army couldn’t figure it out doesn’t say much for soldiers.
It’s not whether or not I like him.
I know you drive, so you’re aware incorrectly harnessing can cause irreparable damage to a horse, not even including making the animal a lot less likely to want to repeat the experience.
Something as seemingly innocuous as trapping a tail hair under the crupper can create a nasty wound.
Then there’s the Sweeney injury from a poorly fitting collar.
So in a way, harnessing is Rocket Science.
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I wouldn’t compare it to rocket science, but it certainly requires specialized knowledge. Like many other things in life.
Could I do a lot of things with a horse many people could not do? Yes, because I have a lot of knowledge about horses.
Could I fix my car? No, because that’s not the type of specialized knowledge I have. That’s why I go to a mechanic.
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Nope, it is not rocket science. People have been doing this for centuries. The knowledge is not that specialized. Putting harness on, especially work/draft harness is not that hard. There aren’t that many pieces.
The Army should have been able to figure this out without spending a gazillion tax dollars. They’ve been doing it for a couple hundred years. I’ve got books the Army put out in the 1940s on using war horses; they should have read their own tech manuals.
& How many have been doing it incorrectly?
For centuries.
Friends of mine habitually use the lowest ring on their Liverpools.
Resulting in this
& Yes, I’ve asked why & got no answers that make sense.
Clinicians have told both to use a kinder setting.
Deaf ears.
They’re lucky the minis don’t object more strongly & flip the carts.
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Senator Cotton’s remarks don’t come from a place of complete ignorance. While in the US Army, he served in the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. Even so…
My parents were both buried at ANC in the past few years. I watched the caissons. Arlington is such a somber and beautiful place.
Cotton wrote a book about The Old Guard
