Dragoon Stables

Home for Horses

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible

This building stabled the horses of the dragoons, who were soldiers trained to fight on horse and on foot. Designed to shelter 80 horses, the stables included a hayloft and granaries that stored the horses' daily ration of 14 lbs of hay, 6 qts. of oats, and 4 qts. of corn. A window above each stall provided the horses with ventilation, giving the horse relief and comfort during the often blistering summers. Tack rooms stored the equipment that enabled the horse and soldier to function as one. Here soldiers groomed their horses for the task of patrolling and protecting the frontier.

Tack Room

The care and safe storage of saddles, bridles and other horse gear helped assure they were in good operating condition, which would increase the likelihood of a safe, comfortable ride for both horse and soldier while out on patrol.

The Saddle or Tack rooms were the responsibility of the stable sergeant and here all the saddles and riding equipment were kept when not in use. Each trooper had his own peg on which he placed his saddle, with the sweat-damp blanket on top to dry, the bridle hanging from the pommel, and the other equipment laying on top of the saddle and blanket.

Equipment, probably, was cleaned, oiled, and polished in the tack room, necessitating tables or sawhorses on which to spread and suspend the items being cleaned. Soap, linseed oil, turpentine, rags, etc. probably were kept here in cabinets or on shelves.

The saddles currently on display range from 1833-1847 and include two 1833 dragoon saddles, a Ringgold, and a Grimsley.