Frank Allen Ramsey - Office of Medical History - U.S. Army

Army Medical Department Profilesoutside was full of snow and mud. They had a miserable existence. Part of ourjob was to care for the animals, and clean out their stalls every day, and takecare of the health of the animals, and exercise them and feed them, andmaintain their health. But they were just vegetating there.We contacted a number of horse tack companies on the East Coast, inKentucky, and Iowa, and Ohio, and a number of other places, and finally oneof them agreed that they would make for us a complete set of tack if we wouldgive them recognition that they have donated to the academy. We ended upwith a magnificent set—four sets of tack. We measured these animals and sentthem the measurements, and they came back with bridles, and with fetlockstraps, all brass studded, tooled, black leather. They made surcingle straps togo around the horses with grips on each side so that the cadet mule riders couldride these mules and hold onto them and perform stunts.My 1st sergeant talked the cadet uniform shop into making us some ornatesatin blankets to cover these mules. They were about three feet by four feet,and they fit over these straps, and these iron handles came through slots in theblanket, and they had West Point colors—black, gold, and gray—and theywere beautiful.At one of the football games we had these mules make their debut wearingthis beautiful new equipment and it was so pretty that the superintendent, whoat that time was General William C. Westmoreland, really liked that, and hedirected that these mules would attend every football game after that.Then we had to get trailers to haul them in, and a railroad car that wasspecially fitted with removable stalls, and what had started out with theintention of just having them perform at the Army-Navy game on the academyfield ended up they performed at every football game West Point played, andyou’ll see them on television today.The cadets then implemented what they call the mule riders, which are anoffshoot of a yell leader, and this is an elected position in the Corps of Cadets,34