Inside the Army's $30 million effort to revamp its funeral horse program after a series of horse deaths

Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 people, and the US Army's Caisson Detachment supports up to 10 funerals each week for select service members.Until recently, however, a key part of these funerals had been missing — the horses.For 75 years, horse-drawn caissons were one of Arlington National Cemetery's most recognizable funeral traditions.Then, the Army shut the program down in 2023 after the deaths of multiple horses exposed unsanitary conditions and shortcomings in their care.More than 2,000 Arlington funerals took place without horses while the Army investigated what went wrong and rebuilt the program from the ground up.

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia

Business Insider

It invested more than $30 million into upgrades, new facilities, revamped training, and a renewed focus on horse welfare.For example, the new $256,000 caisson wagon the horses pull during funerals now weighs 1,205 pounds, down from the previous wagon's 2,800 pounds.

To understand what it now takes to earn a place in one of the military's most demanding ceremonial units, Business Insider chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan followed the Caisson Detachment from advanced training in Ocala, Florida, to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where soldiers complete their final certification.A complete rebuild of the philosophy and training