SAN ANGELO, TX — "I’ve been riding my entire life,” said Sergeant Nicholas Baeza. “My father, he's a roper, and we just had horses growing up, obviously way different than this."
The word 'Army' rarely leads someone to think about horses,
"People are like what are you doing cause we're dressed in military uniform, and we explain to them we still ride horses for the Army and they're like ‘oh’ people are blown away," said Baeza.
He says it's a very real thing, so real he and his unit have traveled all the way from Fort Irwin California to compete at Fort Concho.
"It’s one of the cool things I get to teach these younger soldiers, we pull a saber out and they say what are we going to do with that," said Baeza.
After 3 days of judging, there will be several ribbons awarded and one trophy to the top performer. But for these men and women it's more about the honor and service for the cavalry.
"We carry 1865 cavalry sabers and tomorrow actually there will be targets up and we'll practice stabbing and slashing like you would if you were on the back of a horse if you were in battle,” said Baeza.
He says there are currently only 6 active duty horse units in the U.S. Army.
"We’re trying to keep the history of the cavalry alive, it’s our main focus," said Baeza.
And he and his men are learning from some of the greatest sources.
“Right out of the original manuals that they use to use in the early 1900's,” said Baeza.
The event at Fort Concho this year is honoring surviving veterans of the cavalry which last served the nation in 1943.
Fort Concho manager added that the competition will be hosted again next year on the fourth week of April.