The riderless horse, Sgt. York, during the funeral procession for Ronald Reagan, with Reagan's own boots reversed in the stirrups.

The riderless horse or caparisoned horse (in reference to its ornamental coverings, which have a detailed protocol all to themselves) is the single riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups that follows the caisson carrying the casket in a funeral procession.

The custom is believed to date back to the time of Genghis Khan, when a horse was sacrificed to serve the fallen warrior in the next world. The caparisoned horse later came to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more.

In the United States, the caparisoned horse is part of the military honors given to an Army or Marine Corps officer who was a colonel or above; this includes the president, by virtue of having been the nation's military commander in chief. Abraham Lincoln, who was killed in 1865, was the first U.S. president to be honored with a caparisoned horse at his funeral.

The most famous riderless horse was Black Jack, named for General of the Army John Pershing, since his nickname was "Black Jack." It has taken part in state funerals of three presidents and a general:

• Presidents:
  • John F. Kennedy (1963)
  • Herbert Hoover (1964)
  • Lyndon Johnson (1973)
• Five-Star Generals:
  • Douglas MacArthur (1964)

See also: state funeral