Comments on: Military Mounts at Fort Bragg

By: kevin

kevin — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 22:48:37 +0000

the stables at smith lake are now shut down and abandoned

By: glenn

glenn — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:29:46 +0000

i worked at the fort bragg riding stables back in 1973/4. eighty horses, half were owned by the army. the only training mission I saw was a travesty; military snafu. nose to tail trail nags; they knew a greenhorn when they saw one. only 4 or 5 were worth riding, and we did, those midnight jaunts weren’t authorized. the other horses belonged to the generals wives and the officers 14 year old daughters. sarge hagmeyer was the real deal. a shoutout to bruce, dallas, and fred. ps yeah I was sad when I saw the new barracks on the ‘prime real estate’.

By: Marsha

Marsha — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 06:29:56 +0000

My dad served in WWII. He was over the horses that pulledd the big guns in Germany. (The calvary) He was a Master Sergeant. He really has some great pictures. They used really big horses, not draft horses.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:13:33 +0000

Correction to my previous comment. Given that I can’t (yet) predict the future, the second to last sentence of my post should have said “As of 12/31/1916 we had 245 active Naval ships.”

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:12:39 +0000

Daddell: Your militery (sic) ship information is simply incorrect. As of 9/30/2011 we had 285 active Navy ships. As of 9/30/2008 (near the end of Bush 2) we had 282 active Naval ships. As of 12/31/2016 we had 245 active Naval ships. You can see this for yourself at:
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org9-4.htm

By: Daddell

Daddell — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:10:44 +0000

To sugest that the militery has fewer horses and bayonets was a very petty remark.
We do have fewer horses ect. But in the same turn we do have less ships. One ship can only be in one place at a time, our missel defence has been dismantled to a point of jepordising our national security as well.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:54:39 +0000

What an amazing story. I never knew about this great program. We have to help keep it up and running. Our soldiers need this experience especially if we are fighting in the Middle East. Everyone share and spread the word.

By: Bel

Bel — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:41:18 +0000

This makes me wish I lived close enough to volunteer. It would make me feel like my degree in Equine Management and my experience with horses over the years were being put to good use again.
“The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.”

By: G Shaffer

G Shaffer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:36:00 +0000

thanks for the articile,but what breed of horses do you use,how old are the horses when you get them.What is the requirement to be in the special operations force.Do you have a breeding farm there on base? How much training do the soliders receive prior to being sent out with their horse.

By: shane

shane — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:03:53 +0000

kind of funny how now that they want to close the stables the trails are regarded as dangerous or unsafe for riding but for the last 6 months it was ok for the special events i.e. EDGE and GI Jane and others were out on theses same trails as well as private owners and outsiders that have an annual pass for the trails. This was not an issue if it was to make money for another facility. As far as the fiscal discrepancies you tell me a facility that has a daily overhead that has been closed for six months out of the year that will make money. They won’t! As for the question as to whether or not there was insurance of course there is. You don’t have a facility like that without insurance. Who are they trying to fool? My papaw said it best when he said don’t pee on me and tell me it’s raining. As far as pasture conditions MWR was ok with moving the stables to a location with no established pasture. As for the construction being a danger to the horses, i believe the only buildings on site when the horses arrived were the barns. The hay shed, tack line, and office were all built after the move. Was there no danger when putting in the geo thermal heat and air for the office? I guess 15 foot trenches beside the pasture were no big deal huh. I guess what bothers me most of all is MWR’s attitude about making money. I thought it stood for Moral Welfare and Recreation for our military and families not making a buck. I think it’s time to take a step back and think about what their true purpose is. As I’m shur this will be deleted from this page due to the negativity towards an unjust act, I will be posting this as many places as i can, not just here.