Pete Cote was a farrier before the U.S. Army made him one of its own, but little did he know the Army and horseshoeing would both be a major part of his life for the last 30 years.

When the Army drafted Cote into service in 1969, the new soldier let his superiors know he had unique skills. His abilities as a farrier eventually brought him to historic Fort Myer, located across the Potomac River from the heart of Washington, D.C.

For the past three decades, he has shod the horses that pull the caissons during the typical four or five full-honor funeral processions for military veterans held daily in the 612- acre Arlington National Cemetery. These 43 horses represent the Caisson Platoon, a subunit of the more than 200-year-old 3rd Infantry, also known
as the “Old Guard.” Incidentally, this is the only full-time equestrian unit remaining in the U.S. Army.

An average of 25 funerals of all types are held each day at Arlington and these horses play an important role in the four or five full-honor funerals that deliver the bodies of fallen heroes to their final resting places.

His job is unique in that he is the only full-time combination farrier and blacksmith on the federal payroll. “These horses are on the U.S. property books and are the only ones owned and maintained by the national government,” Cote says.

He works an eight-hour day at Fort Myer, beginning at 6 a.m. and concluding at 2 p.m. His early start time ensures he beats the morning rush-hour traffic and that horses scheduled to pull caissons during the day’s funerals are ready for work. He receives the same benefits as other federal employees, such as health insurance, retirement and vacation time.

High-Profile Job

You might even say that Cote is the shoer to the President. Each time there is an inauguration, Cote is the official farrier who makes sure all the horses brought in to celebrate the event are properly shod to event specifications.

“It’s different,” Cote says of his farriery work. “You get involved with a lot of different things that most farriers don’t normally deal with on a regular basis.
“When we go into Washington for an event, you’re confined to a small area and the Secret Service is all around you. As the official farrier, I’ve attended meetings for arranging several Presidential inaugural celebrations.”

On occasion, the President will visit Fort Myer to attend a function or even ride a horse. However, little shoeing work usually gets done when the President is in the vicinity.

“When the President is visiting Fort Myer, it’s usually a bad day for me because the Secret Service wants me to shut down,” Cote says. “They don’t want to see smoke from my forge coming out of the building and the sound of pounding on the anvil messes up their security communications system.”

Shod With Borium

When pulling the caissons, the horses are shod with Borium on the toe and both heels of the shoe. These six-horse teams may pull the caissons 10 to 15 miles through the cemetery in a single day.

“I go through 135 pounds of Borium each year, which costs about $4,500,” says Cote.

However, when the horses are used to celebrate events at the White House or on artificial turf, government rules require they be shod with rubber shoes. While rubber shoes have been tried on the horses used in the cemetery, the shoes have not held up well due to the extreme pressure placed on them from the extensive work.

“I went through 16 shoes in 57 days,” Cote says. “I didn’t trim; I left their feet long. And I would use as small a nail as possible because the rubber would wear out.

“We had trouble with horses stumbling while going downhill because the horses were trying to hold back the caisson and the rubber would grip too well and wouldn’t slide at all. Sometimes, the rubber would give you too much traction. I’ve seen the shoes stop and stay in place while the horse’s feet kept going.”

Keeping the feet level can be difficult, particularly with three points of Borium on the shoes. The farrier adds that the feet of the horses often experience breakover to the side due to the Borium on the toe and the fact that these horses will occasionally be asked to side step during a funeral procession.

“I don’t make one side of the shoe higher or lower than the other when I see breakover occurring to the side because they are working on a level surface and the Borium will make things unlevel,” Cote says. “If a horse walks on its side, I may have to use extra Borium to keep him as level as possible.”

However, it’s important that Borium be placed on the toe to make sure the horses have adequate traction.

“I generally go with square toes in the rear and set the Borium back so it creates a rolled toe,” says Cote, who uses an acetylene torch to heat the Borium. “I raise them up in the heel, trying to ease breakover as much as I can.

“But I can’t give them a lot of heel because you will be asking them to pull with their toes and stop on their toes.”

Another problem is dried out hooves which result from frequent bathing for the funeral parades.

When the horses are placed in a harness, it also affects their movement.

“When you put on a harness, it squeezes them in so they can’t walk as wide as they want,” Cote says. “If a horse has an arthritic hip, it will walk on an angle and wear out one side of the shoe more than the other.”

Role Of Caisson Horses

Six horses are harnessed together in formation to pull the caisson. The lead horse is known as the section horse and is followed by the cappaison horse, which is riderless and decorated with a set of boots placed backward. This symbolizes the deceased soldier looking back on his or her military career.

The swing team is next, followed by the wheel team, which does most of the work pulling the caisson.
The horses are black, light grey or bay. Most are Percherons, English Shires or Lipizzans, although any breed other than Thoroughbred or Arabian is acceptable.

Other breeds currently represented among the 43 horses in the Fort Myer stables include Percheron and Quarter Horse mixes, Tennessee Walkers and even a horse donated by the Bureau of Land Management that’s registered as a “Free Roaming Horse.”

On this particular day, five full-honor funerals were scheduled for Arlington Cemetery and two teams were sent to work the funerals. While there is no advance shoeing schedule for these horses, Cote checks the feet of the horses every day to see if they need to be shod. He also must work around the horses’ work schedules. They are shod every six to eight weeks.

“You just keep them shod when you can,” Cote says. “You keep the biggest foot possible and clip them heavy. There is a tremendous amount of shearing action that occurs from going up and down the hills of the cemetery while walking on concrete.”

Long Heels On Shoes

Cote likes to keep a longer heel on the shoes of the wheel horses since they are doing most of the work and need the extra support. Working on an English Shire, Cote pulls the shoes and announces they can be reset or kept as spares in case the horse pulls a shoe during a cemetery workday.

The shoer also likes long heels on shoes to compensate for any over-trimming of heels performed by new students. Cote selects and trains Army specialists based at Fort Myer to assist him, particularly when it comes to shoeing the heavy draft horses.

“We try to save the horses’ heels,” he says. “You want to be a little wider with the shoes at the heels. I keep about 1/8-inch of breathing room back there if I can, but sometimes you can’t do all the things you’d like to do.”

Cote uses Diamond keg shoes because they offer the extra length in the heels he needs when customizing shoes. After measuring the heels of the trimmed hoof, he determines the needed heel length of the shoes, draws a chalk line and cuts the heels off with an acetylene torch.

Shoeing Accessories

If Cote runs into a problem foot, especially one with abscesses or bruised feet, he will add pads. He prefers plastic pads because they are more durable under the tremendous work stress found in the daily cemetery work.