Elite mounted troopers train for horse-drawn funerals in Maggie Valley
Aug. 14—The North Carolina Trooper Association Caisson Unit held a training exercise in Maggie Valley this week.
The elite caisson unit is comprised of troopers from across the state. They transport caskets in funerals with special honors, including fallen law enforcement officers and soldiers killed in the line of duty.
The unit met up at the Ghost Town parking lot around 11 a.m. before unloading the horses, harnessing them up to the carriage and heading down Soco Road to Maggie Valley Town Hall. They paused there for a moment before heading back to Ghost Town. Spectators lined the street and gathered at town hall to see the demonstration.
The N.C. State Highway Patrol caisson unit was trained by that team at Arlington National Cemetery and performs ceremonies in the state.
The Trooper Association's Caisson Unit dates back to September 2006, when they purchased the wagon. The wagon was Amish built with a flat black finish, but was then taken to the State Highway Patrol body shop in Asheville where they disassembled, sanded and refinished it to the museum quality you see today. The wagon measures 7 feet wide and 24 feet long. When loaded with a casket, the wagon weighs approximately 1500 pounds.
The wagon is pulled by a team of four black horses. White horses are also acceptable, but the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and the North Carolina Trooper's Association agree to only use black horses for this mission.
The unit usually practices four times a year and has practiced locally at the arena of the Smoky Mountain Event Center in past years.
