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Memorial Day Activities, Riderless Horse Presentation

    Memorial Day will be recognized at a sunrise service on Monday, May 30.  The event will be held at Peterson’s Gun Shop in Mount Dora.  There will be guest speakers, playing of Taps by AJ Rohe, and other activities will convene beginning at 6:15 a.m.
    Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione will serve as keynote speaker.
    Included in the ceremony will be a bagpipe performance by Bob Cunningham.
    Peterson’s Gun Shop is located at 4255 West Old US 441.

    The public is invited to come to the McTureous Memorial in Altoona on Monday, May 30.  Beginning at 10 a.m., American Legion Post 21 will host a ceremony that will include a Riderless Horse Presentation.
    The McTureous Memorial is located on SR 19 next to the Altoona Post Office.  Guests are invited to bring a chair for maximum comfort.

Learn About The Riderless Horse
By Ginger Patrick
    The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 101 of Colorado Springs, Colorado has made available to the American Legion Post 21, the black and the white riderless horses for ceremonial honors on Memorial Day, 2022. 
    The black riderless horse, under uniformed military escort, is a living monument to the men and women of the past, who served to protect and defend the United States of America.  It is a military ceremony that dates back to the twelfth century and is common to almost every nation with a standing military.
    The white riderless horse is also a historic entity.  In tribute to soldiers yet to come, United States Army Lieutenant General Harold G. Moore presented the first white horse at the dedication of the Raymond Weeks memorial in Linn Park, Birmingham, Alabama on November 9, 2006.
Both of these horses, the black Achilles and the white horse Anthem, were pinned in April 2021 as official equine members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 101 of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
    Achilles is named for the Greek warrior Achilles, a demigod of the Trojan War who died in battle.  The only white marking on this horse is at his hind left heel. Achilles qualifies as a veteran for his service as a Civil War mount of the 6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry Reenactment Group.     
    Achilles served in all five years of the 150th anniversary Civil War battle reenactments of 2011 through 2015 (1861 - 1865).  This horse saw action at the sesquicentennial reenactments of First Manassas; Shilo; Antietam; Morgan’s Raid; Brandy Station, the largest cavalry engagement of the Civil War; Gettysburg, and was under saddle at Appomattox for the 150th anniversary battle and surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant, of the Army of The Potomac.
    The first Riderless Horse to be presented for an American President was Abraham Lincoln’s own horse, “Old Bob.”  In recent memory for some are the images of the riderless horses Blackjack, for President John F. Kennedy and the horse Sergeant York, for President Ronald Reagan.     
    Achilles wears the cavalry appointment of a Civil War Cavalry officer.  An 1860’s McClellan cavalry saddle with brass trim and gold inlaid braid on the saddle pad, distinguishes this horse as a mount of a cavalry officer.  It is the yellow leather inlay on the bridle and breast collar which indicate cavalry.  Blue inlay would indicate infantry and red would indicate artillery.  If you look carefully, you will notice the boots are placed in the stirrups backwards.  The backwards boots are singular to the presentation of the Riderless Horse.  They symbolize the passing of a leader who will never ride again.
    In November of 1863, four months after the battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln gave a short speech at the dedication of the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where thousands of American soldiers both North and South died in a fight over the destiny of the United States of America.  In his Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln asked “That we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.  That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”  Americans honor the men and women who offer their very lives to the safety of the world and the preservation of peace every year on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day. 
    These two horses are owned and trained by Ginger M. Patrick, USAF veteran and friend of Lt. General Hal Moore who told her “Don’t ever stop” presenting these horses.  Since 2006.