New 4×6″ Card Telling Students about Hank at Arlington National Cemetery and in Alabama
The cap horse in the photo above is Hank serving the funeral for Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and US Secretary of State.
Hank retired as a military working equine in 2023 after 10 years of service and was adopted to live his retirement at Compassion Ranch in Central Alabama, cared for primarily by Dr. David Dyson. Hank was diagnosed by the US Army with equine metabolic syndrome so extra effort is needed with his diet, shelter, and exercise, which includes walking in the National Veterans Day Parade hosted in Birmingham in 2023, the first time for a cap horse from Arlington.
The riderless horse presented in funerals and parades is a time-honored tradition made famous by The Old Guard serving Arlington National Cemetery. Many Americans have seen a riderless horse in funerals for U.S. Presidents. The riderless horse is called a caparisoned horse or cap horse. Caparisoned typically refers to wearing a saddle or decorative covering. At Arlington, the Cap Walker leads the Cap Horse, who displays a saddle and boots backwards signifying this warrior will never ride again. The cap walker at the Old Guard is a soldier and the horse is a MWE (military working equine). Fort Myer connects to Arlington.
Compassion Ranch and Patriotism in Action honor the tradition of riderless horses used by The Old Guard for Alabama in the Birmingham parade. We teach students when we host programs at the ranch the meaning of horses in ceremonies as well as the Pledge of Allegiance and the character trait, “Patriotism” referring to the Pledge of Allegiance and leading the national movement to create Veterans Day to honor veterans of all wars. Our books Patriotism in Action and Professionalism Under Stress, show and describe The Old Guard, based at Ft. Myer who lead on ceremonial horses, Tomb of the Unknowns, and more.
riderless horses at National Veterans Day
Patriotism in Action has coordinated presentation of caparisoned (riderless) horses in the National Veterans Day Parade since 2006. That year, Lt. General Hal Moore, our nominee for the National Veteran Award was honored in Birmingham. We presented two riderless horses in our ceremony in Linn Park and in the parade–a white male horse with cavalry boots backwards in the stirrups signifying “this warrior will not ride again” in honor of General Moore and a black female horse, without boots, with roses, in honor of Julie Moore, signifying the support of spouses and families in our military. Col. (retired) Bob and Nancy Barefield coordinate the horses and Army handlers to lead in the 1-2 mile parade route. Compassion Ranch supports the horse, walker, and Veterans Day.
National Veterans Day Parade in Birmingham. Cap horse presented by Patriotism in Action. Cap walker LTC Joy Craft.
Painting by Gwen Gorby of cap horse and cap walker Steve Vance in the National Veterans Day Parade donated to Patriotism in Action, then donated for display at the Alabama National Cemetery by Col. (retired) Bob & Nancy Barefield.
National Veterans Day Parade in Birmingham. Cap walker SSG Bamberg.
Additional cap walkers who have led cap horses presented by Patriotism in Action in the National Veterans Day parade hosted in Birmingham:
CW2 Donald “Ray” Ezell, Cpt Jeremiah Griffin, SSG Donald Haynes, SGM Mona Lisa Medders, SSG Ruth Robinson, SSG Cyndi Tiede, SSG Jonathon Warren, Cpt Kristy Wolters.
caparisoned horses at arlington National Cemetery
Our first up close knowledge of The Old Guard began in 2003 at the funeral of LTG Carroll Dunn, Stretch’s dad. Col. Dunn aka Stretch invited several of us members of Life Leaders to travel to Ft. Myer and Arlington for the funeral. These photos from my camera ended up in a book Stretch and I began writing after the September 11 attacks. Soon after, we published two books that include features on The Old Guard. Patriotism in Action shows their meaningful services such as funerals and the Tomb of the Unknowns. Professionalism Under Stress shows a soldier of The Old Guard on the cover as an example of a true professional.
Cap Horse Sgt. York for Lt. Gen. Dunn.
Cap Walker leads the cap horse, 2003.
The Old Guard in formation prior to funeral.
You can see a featured section about cap horses and The Old Guard serving a full military honors funeral at Ft. Myer and Arlington National Cemetery showcased in the book Patriotism in Action, pages 119-137. A free online edition aka flip book is provided. You can see cap horse Sgt. York and soldiers serving the funeral of General Dunn and at the Tomb of the Unknowns, plus more to help patriots learn more of this special unit.
Alabama becomes home for 2 cap horses
The herd manager for the caisson of The Old Guard invited Compassion Ranch to adopt MWE Lincoln in the fall of 2022 when he needed to retire from service. The adoption process continued in to 2023. Knowing Compassion Ranch and Patriotism in Action desired to present a cap horse from Arlington in the Birmingham Parade, Ms. Hovey offered Cap Horse Hank to Compassion Ranch. The board approved our request to adopt both Hank and Lincoln.
The process included an application, site visit, approval by their board, and travel by David Dyson and professional transporters to meet The Old Guard at Ft. Myer and transport Hank and Lincoln home to Central Alabama.
Compassion Ranch in central Alabama endorsed to adopt Retiring Caisson Horses!
Captain Lundquist of The Old Guard serving Arlington National Cemetery recommended Compassion Ranch.
June 2023: Hank and Lincoln live in Central Alabama.
Lincoln with Dr. Dyson. Hank with Col. Barefield.
Learn more of the Old Guard: http://www.oldguard.mdw.army.mil
Hank helping to honor the memory of Col. Bob Barefield (USA Retired) at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo, Alabama, 2023.
With Hank the Tank:
Dr. David Dyson and
Major Steve Vance.