Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Horses as Healers

The last horse mounted Cavalry unit in the U.S. Army was deactivated in 1946. Having served continuously since the establishment of the Continental Army in 1776, they were rendered obsolete by mechanization.

The connection to this storied past is not forgotten, however, as Ceremonial Units are still maintained.

More importantly, horses are helping some of our wounded warriors.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a really great program - thanks for posting about it.

HossBoss said...

Are you familiar with how the U.S. Army went about 'deactivating' the existing remounts in their possession in 1946? If you have not already seen it, I recommend the movie, 'In Pursuit of Honor.'

Hollywood took literary license to some degree, I'm sure ...but the story is based on fact as far as what the U.S. Army attempted to do and how a handful of U.S. soldiers responded. That handful of soldiers were the Oath Keepers of that day and age.

I'm glad to see today's U.S. Army recognizes and respects the value of the horse.

Deb said...

I've also watched 'In Pursuit of Honor' and was horrified at how the Army 'deactived'the existing remounts.
Both interesting articles and I'm glad that the 'power of the horse' as a healer is helping returning wounded warriors. Thanks BR!

Buck said...

There are a LOT of equine therapy programs for wounded warriors. I first read about them a year or so ago... a program associated with the caisson ceremonial unit of The Old Guard in DeeSee; doing a google search for the term yields a surprisingly high number of hits.

Jessica Boyd said...

As a marketing flunky, I do understand the "value" of telling a story to get the most impact.

However.

I was a flunky because of my penchant for telling the truth.

I agree that while it's *possible* (and I haven't seen the movie or done any research so admit I am totally uninformed) I also find it hard to believe that cavalry soldiers would have done such a thing.

Horses can indeed heal us in many ways. Not just physical. Check out Horses for Heros, too. http://www.horsesforheroes.org