Iraqi Arabians Rebound With Military And Civilian Aid

A poignant example of the collateral damage of war was the near devastation of the Iraqi National Herd of Arabian horses during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Owned by the country under Saddam Hussein, the herd had numbered more than 100 and served as a link to the thousands of years of equine history entwined with the region's Bedouin heritage. Believed to have been moved to one of Hussein's outlying residences near the start of combat operations, many of the horses were killed or stolen after the property, which was suspected as a hideout for the dictator, was struck by coalition forces in 2003.

Members of the U.S. Army's 354th Civil Affairs Unit were able to locate or reclaim 19 of the horses, eventually taking them to the Baghdad Zoo. The 354th and a somewhat overwhelmed Dr. Wasseem Wali, the zoo's decidedly non-equine veterinarian, cared for the animals as best they could until the 1st Cavalry Division's Horse Cavalry Detachment, based in Fort Hood, Texas, arrived.

Historically, the HCD had functioned in a ceremonial capacity for the Army, preserving the United States' cavalry traditions and performing in everything from Presidential inaugurations to state fairs. In a modern age of Humvees and tanks, this situation called for the specialized skills they were uniquely suited to provide.

An Army Of Compassion

Led by Staff Sgt. Robert "Rip" Bussell, headquarters deputy commandant, 1st Cavalry Division, the HCD taught Wali and other Iraqi workers the basics of horse care and handling.

All of the horses' equipment was also destroyed or stolen, so photographs of the animals taken soon after the HCD's arrival showing awkward, ill-fitting halters fashioned from knotted remnants of rope and webbing.

Soldiers reached into their own pockets to purchase whatever shoddy supplies they could find in the war-torn country to make the horses more comfortable. They began with small efforts to provide for the animals, such as building small paddocks for the two stallions that had been tied to trees in an effort to separate them from the other horses, according to an article written on Sept. 29, 2004, by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Susan German, of the 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Department.

"There's a lack of knowledge on some of the modern equine skills, such as medications, training techniques and doctrine that can be used for the animals," Bussell told German. "We're trying to get them as much information as we can to make a better future for the animals and the people here."

While the HCD was beginning their equine mission in Iraq, Ed Littlefox Copeland, a Native American traditionalist and horseman from Winston Salem, N.C., had been searching for news about the fate of the National Herd.

"My uncle Bill was a civil engineer with Standard Oil, and he spent about 25 years in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. He was not a horseman when he left here, but he was when he got back," said Copeland. "He stayed with the Bedouins there out in the field, and they introduced him to horses. When he came home, he'd show us pictures and tell us stories, mostly about the horses."