Submitted photoQuincy is one of the horses that will come to Redmond from Arlington National Cemetery to be a part of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4108 color guard.

At an October meeting for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4108 in Redmond, Peggy Sweet, a lifetime member the past eight years, pitched a new idea.

What if the post launched its own mounted color guard?

“Everyone was so excited,” Sweet, 57, said. “We just took the idea and ran with it.”

The plan is for the mounted color guard to carry the American and Oregon flags, as well as flags for prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action and the flags for VFW Post 4108, the Air Force, the Army, the Navy and the Marines.

The mounted color guard can participate in local events like parades.

“We want to be the pride of Central Oregon,” Sweet said.

What Sweet didn’t know when she brought up the idea, though, was that some honorable animals would become involved.

Two horses from Arlington National Cemetery are being adopted by a serviceman who will soon be coming home to Oregon.

Tyler Salas, 24, of Culver, will be out of the Army on Feb. 2. Salas was trained as a farrier for the Caisson Platoon of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment; he works in Arlington National Cemetery shoeing the horses that carry the remains of fallen soldiers and participate in funeral processions there.

“His military uniform is Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, a T-shirt with their logo on it and a baseball cap,” said Jim Peterson, Salas’ grandfather, who lives in Culver.

When horses are retired from the program, sometimes for age, or sometimes because they can no longer do the work, they are adopted out. But, Peterson said, the horses usually stay on the East Coast. It’s rare for them to make a trip like the one they’ll soon be making to Oregon.

Peterson, 66, will travel with his daughter Jan. 23 to pick up Salas, his wife, Blair, their daughter Rahley, 2, and the two geldings he’s adopting: Quincy and Kennedy. Those were two of the horses Salas trained on when he first started learning the trade for the Caisson Program.

Although Peterson and his wife have a ranch with some of their own horses in Culver, growing up, Salas was more interested in “raising dirt bikes,” Peterson said with a chuckle.

It wasn’t until the opportunity to learn the farrier trade came along in the Army that Salas took a real interest.

“The farrier that has taught him, he has been a farrier for 40 years,” Peterson said of Robert Brown, who taught Salas the trade.

Peterson said before Salas gets out next month, Brown told him he’ll be given a certificate of completion as a master farrier. Brown also told Salas he’s now one of only 5 percent of farriers in the nation who still know how to make their own horseshoes out of bar stock.

When Salas is discharged, he’ll travel with his family and the two horses back to Culver, where he’ll start his own horseshoeing business on his grandfather’s farm.

He’ll also join VFW Post 4108 with his grandfather to participate in the mounted color guard, which they hope will be up and running in time for the Sisters Rodeo. Quincy will almost surely be used in the color guard, but Kennedy’s participation is still up for debate. Quincy was retired from Arlington because his front legs were wearing out from the paved pathways in the cemetery, but Kennedy was being ornery.

Kennedy, who carried the empty boots symbolizing the fallen soldiers, had kicked a few cars.

Still, Peterson said his grandson is confident Kennedy will be comfortable under his care because they’ve known each other for years. And Peterson is sure Culver will welcome Salas’ new farrier business with open arms.

“Talking with the different people in the horse community here in Central Oregon, they said there’s a huge demand for good farriers,” Peterson said.

Peterson said he hopes the honored horses are embraced as well. It will be an expensive trip to bring back the animals, so he’d love to see the community get involved.

“This is not just a project that I’m trying to put together,” Peterson said. “This is a community project because these are horses that have served our country for our fallen brothers and sisters back in Arlington.”

Peterson said the horses are like wounded soldiers being sent back home.

“This is a big honor for Oregon,” Peterson said.

— Reporter: 541-383-0325,kfisicaro@wescompapers.com