Legendary Arlington caisson horse adopted by Zebulon family

The military community in North Carolina just became home to a four-legged former service member retiring after a legendary career in the Army.

After 20 years of service, Klinger was adopted last month by a Zebulon family.

Klinger is a black Percheron standing 5'6" at his shoulder. Equestrians would measure that height at 17 hands tall.

The only thing more impressive than his size is his story.

Klinger served with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment Old Guard Caisson Platoon. For 20 years, he led funeral processions for fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Their day is normally four funerals a day. They start at 4 in the morning and its like a 12- or 14-hour day," Lee Turner said.

The Turner family's path to adopting Klinger started a few years ago, when they opened their private farm to the public after the COVID-19 Pandemic.

"My daughter Olivia and my wife and my other daughter Chelsea, we all started looking around and adopting, rescuing animals and bringing them here," Lee Turner said.

The Turners showed horses at the world level, competing all over the country for years.

"One of my friends that shows horses with me was in the service and she shared on Facebook about a year ago and I saw it and just brought it to my parents and said this is something we should look at doing," Olivia Turner said.

She started the application process, which included someone from the Army coming to check out their farm.

In the last year, they almost adopted a couple other former Army horses but it never quite worked out until Klinger came along.

"She said, 'Just Google him and you'll find what you need to know about him," Olivia Turner said.

It turns out, Klinger is an icon. There's a children's book about him. He's a stuffed animal.

All of that is because of his service to the T.A.P.S. Program which works with survivors of soldiers killed in action.

The Turners first saw the gentle giant when they went to Arlington for his retirement ceremony. He became fast friends with the youngest member of the family--Chelsea Jones' son Rhett.

"They hit it off right away," Jones said. "I mean Klinger's great with kids. Rhett really enjoyed it and its great to see things like that through his eyes."

Klinger brought a buddy of his own into retirement--another former Army horse named Dozer.

Dozer was too small to march in the caisson unit but served as a training horse during his career.

Now, they are settling into life at a slower pace.

"We just wanted to give these horses that gave so much of themselves for how many years they've been with the Army a place where they aren't asked to do anything but be pets," Olivia Turner said.

The Turners said Klinger will still get to work with children in retirement.

His first event at their farm, Barristers' Barnyard, is on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. There will be vendors and a raffle to benefit the T.A.P.S. Program.