One More Training Day for First Company Governor's Horse Guards

The longest continuously serving cavalry company in the country set up camp in Granby Tuesday afternoon after traveling from its Avon base.

The First Company Governor's Horse Guards are on a weeklong training exercise, which began Sunday and included a 12-mile march along the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail Tuesday. Following exercises and individual riding competitions, the guards traveled from their grounds in Avon to their bivouac site at Salmon Brook Park Tuesday. The volunteer unit spent Tuesday night at the park and will march back to Avon Wednesday.

Maj. Frank Judice, a Granby resident, former town official and four-year member of the guards, spoke about his unit’s history Tuesday. Judice said the unit first formed in 1778 and was charted in 1788. Although now ceremonial in nature, the guards saw regular action before helicopters and personnel carriers replaced the horses used by cavalry units.

The horse guards helped search for Pancho Villa along the border between Mexico and America in 1916 and 1917 and became a machine gun unit during World War I, fighting in France. After being deployed for coastal defense in World War II, the guards returned to their horse-mounted role.

“We always need to preserve history,” Judice said, noting the value of maintaining the horse guards.

As a ceremonial unit, the guards perform a number of duties related to community service. That service, along with enjoying the close involvement with the unit’s horses, draws for many of the members.

“I always wanted to do community service,” said Pfc. Laurel Urda, a teacher at Simsbury’s Central School.

Urda said some of her favorite activities with the horse guards include helping boy scouts earn their equine badges and working with children of National Guard members during homecoming ceremonies.

The guards also march in a variety of parades, including those held on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, as well as for town and city bicentennials and other important anniversaries.

The guards are actively soliciting new members and experiences with neither horses nor the military are necessary.

“We take members with no previous experience and train them,” Judice said.

The state provides the unit’s horses, although the guards must provide their own gear. That cost, including saddles and other leather goods, can exceed $250 in an inductee’s first year in the unit. But the unique prestige of membership in the First Company Governor's Horse Guards is still a strong draw.

For more information about joining the horse guards, contact Lt. Greg DeManche at greg@demc-law.com.