Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston –
One of U.S. Army North’s newest members will soon be saddled
with the responsibility of a solemn task that will make him a highly visible
military ambassador. Being put into such a conspicuous position so early in a
career may seem like a heavy burden to bear, but it won’t bother Dapplewood
Neighbob.
He weighs more than 1,600 pounds.
Known as “Bob” for short, he is a two-year-old gleaming
black Percheron stallion whose father was a Percheron world champion. Bob
joined Army North’s Military Funeral Honors Platoon Caisson Section last month
and over the next year, he will be broken to ride and trained to pull the
caisson that carries the remains of departed Soldiers on their final ride.
Preparing such a massive, powerful steed is not for a
novice. That task goes to Army North stable master Jonathon Deeley, who has
broken and trained more than 700 horses in his 30-year career. An accomplished
equestrian, Deeley won the 2009 Mustang Makeover during which he had over 100
days to break and prepare a wild Mustang for competition.
By comparison, Bob’s training should be fairly simple.
Deeley anticipates it will only take two weeks before he’ll be riding Bob.
“He will be relatively easy to break,” Deeley said. “He’s
friendly and not easily scared.”
Deeley will accustom Bob to the training tools used and the
equipment that he will be carrying such as a lunge whip, harness, and saddle.
“You’ve got to teach a horse on the ground first, before you
can teach them from the saddle,” Deeley said.
Part of that training includes desensitizing Bob to the
sights and sounds he may experience as part of a funeral detail.
“We will get him used to the sound of weapons firing,” said
Sgt. Jimmy Sandoval, a caisson section rider who has been with the Military
Funeral Honors Platoon for six years. “Our Soldiers regularly fire blank rounds
here at the stables as they practice for the salute volley, so Bob has already
heard quite a bit of that.”
The caisson section also rides in the San Antonio Western
Heritage and Fiesta parades, so Deeley must accustom Bob to everything from
waving flags and excited crowds to frisbees being thrown in front of him.
“We’re teaching the horse to focus on the rider rather than
what’s going on around him,” Sandoval said. “It requires a lot of trust between
horse and rider.”
After Bob is broken to ride, Deeley will pair him up with an
experienced horse and eventually start hooking him to the caisson for
familiarization.
“We only introduce one new thing at a time” Deeley said. “If
it’s a new horse, all the other horses and riders will be very experienced. If
it’s a new rider, all the horses will be seasoned veterans.”
Bob’s first official duty will most likely be as a
caparisoned horse rather than pulling the caisson, Sandoval said. The
caparisoned horse – called a cap horse – is led by a walker and is riderless.
The cap horse follows behind the Caisson, with empty black leather boots
reversed in the stirrups to symbolize that the warrior will never ride again.
Before Bob pulls the caisson in a funeral procession, he
will practice it many times, to include taking an empty wagon through the
cemetery in preparation for the sights, sounds and smells of what he will
experience.
Once Bob has completed his first official duty, he will
receive a new name based on the time-honored tradition of naming horses after
former sergeants major of the Army. Bob’s new name will be Chandler, said
Deeley, after Raymond Chandler, who served as Sergeant Major of the Army from
March 1, 2011 until January 30, 2015.
Once he becomes a certified member of the team, “Chandler”
will spend most of his time out in the pasture, but will be brought in daily
for feeding and grooming and will be ridden several times a week to refresh his
training.
The number of missions he performs will depend on the number
of funerals that are authorized a caisson. In fiscal year 2015, the Fort Sam
Houston caisson section completed 63 such missions, said Capt. Bradley Glosser,
Army North Headquarters Support Company commander.
For now, however, “Chandler” is still just Bob, a trainee
embarking on a year of regimentation in preparation to join the elite group of
horses that play a significant role in honoring those who have dedicated their
lives to protecting our country.