How can I get my horse involved in carrying the flag?

beau159 · 08-09-2012, 10:31 AM

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Exception: If the Horse Cavalry Detachment of the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry is part of the show that day, there's a good chance that mounted soldiers from the First Team will carry the flag.

Absolutely military are always involved when they are present. One of the larger rodeos in my state always encorporates some sort of military presence into the grand entry each night.

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SHOULD you have the opportunity to do so in this venue or another, I suggest that you buy a stirrup with the attachment for the flag.

I have never seen a stirrup that you can purchase with a flag attachment on it.

What you do want to get though, and that is a good suggestion, is a flag boot. It's a simple leather holder with an adjustable strap that you secure around your stirrup leathers. It's a lot easier to use a flag boot, than to try to wedge the flag pole into your stirrup leathers and hold it, especially if it is a large flag and very windy.

ANd you always carry the flag on your right side.

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The drill team my daughter is on does usually carry the US flag during opening ceremonies...the other members carry either a TX or US flag -- or a smaller size, therefore the US flag is the largest in attendance as it should be.

Also, at a lot of the rodeos here(including the San Angelo rodeo-one of the 10 largest in the US every year) the flag is carried at at least a medium and usually a fast lope/gallop/run -- this is truly an amazing site! The colors streaming up above and behind a running horse!

I am a retired Army guy and am not offended by the flag being carried at the faster pace. I don't know the rules for how the US flag should be carried during ceremonies(I was never stationed anywhere we had a mounted unit)...but it looks mucho better at a fast lope than it does at a slow lope. The only rules we ever had to follow during any of our ceremonies was that the US flag had to be the largest and tallest flag there.

I've always been taught to never go faster than a moderate gallop while holding the American Flag. Even if you are exiting the arena. It's a respect thing. You will get scolded if you break that rule, at least where I've been.

Yup, and the American flag is always held the tallest. All other flags present in the arena are to be bowed and slightly lowered.

And if there is an eagle on the top of the flag pole, you have to make sure it is facing forward. Again, respect and attention to detail.

And it is never to touch the ground, as usual.

You sound pretty "easy going" for the most part about the American flag, but there are other's who are sticklers. So you've got to present it that way to make everyone happy.

ropinbiker · 08-10-2012, 10:57 AM

Nope, not easy going...the exact opposite! I served for 21 years, and have nothing but the highest regard for the flag! As a matter of fact, during the anthem if anyone doesn't take off their hat or show respect I will say something to them.

What I said was I(and everyone I have ever talked to) thinks the flag being presented during the anthem at a higher speed looks better. Just as it was flown at the head of a cavalry charge-at full speed. I have been in, and been in charge of, at least 200 military ceremonies. However, none of them were with a mounted cavalry unit. I have jumped(from a plane)and rappelled(form a 90 foot tower), into a ceremony carrying the US flag(it was tied to my backpack/rucksack), and I have seen the flag brought into the ceremony using tanks, air defense vehicles, and numerous other things....so, how could jumping/rappelling in with a flag be any different from a flag being carried by a fast moving horse?

I have participated in and watched countless rodeos in all of the southwest, Hawaii, and a few in the southeast...and most of them have the rider carrying the US flag ride faster than a moderate lope...and most of them picked up speed as the anthem progressed...it's a very moving display if the rider can time it correctly and they reach their fastest speed while the anthem is ending and they are about to exit the arena.

Therefore, I don't see where liking the flag to be presented in a more dramatic, not to mention beautiful fassion is considered wrong. Also, I can't find anything in any drill team searches for the speed at which the flag is carried...just the normal rules.

I will look in the Army drill and ceremony manual, I still work on a military base teaching Soldiers their future missions...so I have pretty easy access to it, to see if there is an "official" rule for the speed at which the colors are supposed to be presented.

spurstop · 08-11-2012, 10:30 PM

Most of the county rodeos down here have a member of the drill team carry the flag if they've got one.

Zeke · 08-11-2012, 10:53 PM

I currently ride on a drill team that presents the flag in what we call a "grand entry routine". There are always at least 6 riders with flags doing the routine at a jog to a patriotic country song. At the end, the team exits and two other members with two much larger flags enter the arena starting at a canter and building speed a little towards the end. They then stand for the national anthem.

It's a pretty typical display for here in Southern CA and honestly chokes me up everytime. It's gorgeous to see the flag flying in that setting.
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COWCHICK77 · 08-12-2012, 08:48 AM

It really does depend on the rodeo.

In my teens I was a local jr. Rodeo assoc. President, drill team leader and rodeo queen and depending on who was there got to present the colors and depending on what rodeo you were at called for how they wanted the flag presented.

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