Arlington. The mere mention of the word conjures up images of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, the Challenger and Columbia Shuttle accidents — the list goes on. Each section represents a period of our American history, and every headstone has a story to tell. It’s sacred ground: a resting place at Arlington is hard-earned and often comes at a price of one’s life under fire.

When you first walk through the iron gates that line the entrance to Memorial Drive, there is a pervasive sense of sadness and emotion that stirs the soul but quickly turns to admiration for the men and women who are interred there. Those who arrive at Arlington never to leave are received with grace and dignity for their service to country.

On a recent trip to our Nation’s most well-known cemetery, I stopped and took a long look from atop the Memorial Amphitheater — as far as I could see were the endless rows of perfectly aligned marble headstones; the quiet was deafening until I heard them — the perfect cadence of horse hooves striking the macadam of McClellan Drive. Each of these services is perfectly orchestrated and performed with precision by an elite military group, designated for the sole purpose of escorting another American hero to their final resting place.

The Old Guard 3rd US Infantry Regiment soldiers are part of the Caisson Platoon, and it is their job is to take care of some of the most prestigious horses in the world. Most of these horse come from Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Illinois. Their home base is located on the grounds of Fort Myer, immediately adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. Its also worth noting that when these horses end their tours of duty, they become available for public adoption.

The ritual starts with horses and soldiers rising at 4 am to prepare them and their equipment for the honor services they will perform that day. There are 58 horses in the team and 49 soldiers, but there are positions for 56. These horses and soldiers participate in eight full honor funerals each day, dividing the workload between two riding teams for a total of four funerals per day for each team.

There are four riding teams (two squads), so when the two riding teams are not conducting funerals, they are responsible for maintaining the stables. The caisson platoon conducts an average of 1,700 funerals per year between all five branches of the services. The honor is reserved for all officers, warrant officers, sergeant major (E-9, the highest enlisted rank), with priority given to those killed in the line of duty.

A typical caisson team consists of a minimum of seven horses, matched gray or black, four riders, and a serviceman displaying the colors of the deceased members branch of service. Six of the horses pull the caisson, three of which have riders. The three other horses are riderless. The two horses closest to the caisson are called the wheel horses, and these are the most experienced horses and act as the brakes. The two front horses are the leads, and they are the second most experienced. The two middle horses are called the swings, and they are the least experienced. The seventh horse, which has a rider, is the guide horse.

The seventh horse is ridden off the team to allow the section chief to move independently, ensuring that the designated route is clear, and to coordinate with the marching troops prior to the funeral service. In battles, the horses on the right side were used for carrying provisions and replacing a main horse if needed. Caissons were used to carry the wounded and deceased from the battlefield as well as hauling ammunition. The field artillery used a six-horse hitch, and today, the platoon uses their equipment, tack, techniques, and training methods laid out in the artillery manual printed by the Army in 1942.

Special funerals have a caparisoned, or “cap” horse, often referred to as the “riderless horse,” in which empty boots are positioned backward in the stirrups. This horse follows the caisson with the casket and was led by a single foot soldier. The purpose of a caparisoned horse originated in the ancient custom of sacrificing a horse at the burial of a warrior. It symbolized that a soldier had fallen as a warrior and would ride no more. Eventually that evolved into the horse being riderless during funeral processions to symbolize the fallen warrior.

This happens at Arlington when an Army or Marine Corps officer was ranked a colonel or above. According to the museum in the stables at Fort Myer, one of the earliest examples of a cap horse in the United States was during the funeral of George Washington. His horse, carrying his saddle, holsters, and pistols, was led behind the procession. Abraham Lincoln, however, was the first president to be honored with a caparisoned horse in a state funeral. The most famous cap horse to live at Fort Myer was “Black Jack,” who was immortalized in US history during the State funeral of President John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Herbert Hoover, and General Douglas MacArthur — not to mention the thousands of funeral services he participated in. His career spanned 24 years, and he is one of the few horses buried on the Fort Myer parade grounds at Summerall field.

The stables and Caisson Platoon at Fort Myers are open to the public, and tours are available where you can see the horses and talk to the servicemembers on how they prepare the horses, adoption of retired horses, and the importance of the rituals and traditions of fallen warriors. The tours are available on a walk-in basis on Tuesdays to Saturdays from noon to 4 pm, though larger groups can contact the platoon in advance to arrange scheduled tours. The tours last approximately 45 minutes and are free. Every graveyard tells a story, but few can talk to the living like Arlington National Cemetery. A burial with the caisson platoon stirs the soul, lifts the spirits, and makes you realize how lucky you are to live in the United States.

Margaret A. Reed, PhD, is the co-author of the best-selling book, The Dogs of Camelot, an AKC dog show judge, a thoroughbred racehorse owner, a principal of Canine Training and Behavior Services LLC, and serves on the board of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, James A Baker Institute for Animal Health.