Saddler / Farrier

Saddlers repaired tack, harness, and leatherwork; farriers shod horses and treated hoof injuries. In a horse-borne army, both jobs were as essential as the gunsmith.

The Story

Chief — foaled 1932, purchased by the Army in 1940 — was the last horse on the official US Cavalry rolls. He died at Fort Riley on 24 May 1968. The job of "Army farrier" died with the herd, not with him; by 1944 there was nothing left to shoe.