Three soldiers and four horses were injured during a training exercise Monday afternoon at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, the Army confirmed to Military.com.
At around 2 p.m. Monday, the caisson detachment — a ceremonial unit responsible for transporting the remains of service members and veterans to their final resting places at Arlington National Cemetery — was conducting a “desensitization ride” when three horses unseated their riders.
No horses escaped the installation, an Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Patrick Husted, told Military.com via an emailed statement Tuesday. The horses were secured by instructors and other personnel after the equids had “continued briefly along the training route until coming to a stop,” he added.
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“Three soldiers received non-life-threatening injuries and were treated at a local hospital; one underwent surgery and remained overnight while the other two were treated and released,” Husted said. “Four horses received minor, non-life-threatening injuries and were treated by onsite veterinarians and remain at JBM-HH under observation. No horses required evacuation for higher-level care.”
The caisson unit belongs to the 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as “The Old Guard.” The regiment is part of the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/U.S. Army Military District of Washington. Husted is the spokesperson for the unit.
When asked what caused the incident, Husted said that it was under investigation. The unit appointed an investigating officer to determine the root cause of the incident, he said. A desensitization ride aims to familiarize horses with their surroundings.
“Horses can be very sensitive to things they are unfamiliar with,” Husted said. “These rides help to build trust between the animals and the riders.”
A spokesperson for the Arlington County Police Department, Ashley Savage, told Military.com that, at 2 p.m., law enforcement officers were dispatched to check the area around Arlington Boulevard and North Pershing Drive — an intersection near where the horses are stabled — but “the call was subsequently canceled as there were no horses currently loose.”
ARLnow.com first reported the incident Monday and said that firefighters and medics were sent to the base to assess injuries after the police were called off.
In 2022, CNN reported that two horses died within days of each other, prompting public and congressional scrutiny into the substandard living conditions and neglect that was afflicting the unit. Two more horses died later that year and, by April 2023, the Army suspended caisson operations as it worked to improve training for its soldiers and conditions for its stable.
The unit remains sidelined from official Arlington funerals, and Army officials have not identified an exact date when the program will resume. The unit transported the remains of President Jimmy Carter in January following his death at the age of 100.
Husted told Military.com that the unit does not anticipate any disruptions to the caisson detachment or its training stemming from the incident.
When asked whether The Old Guard or joint task force foresaw any changes that needed to be made to the caisson detachment as a result of the incident, Husted said “it is too early to determine if any changes need to be made because of the incident. Once the investigation is complete, we will take all factors into consideration and make determinations at that point.”
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