WISH-TV reporter Kyla Russell interviews Culver Military Academy cadets Bode Smith '27 (left) and his brother, Gage Smith '27. (Photo by Scott Johnson)
News crews from Chicago, Indianapolis, South Bend and Plymouth descended on Culver Academies last week to talk to students about their preparations for the Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., before it was canceled because of frigid temperatures.
It is the 19th time Culver’s Black Horse Troop was selected for the parade. They first appeared in the 1913 presidential inaugural parade as the official escort for Vice President Thomas Marshall during Woodrow Wilson’s inaugural parade in 1913. The parade honoring the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance marked the 10th time the Equestriennes were selected.
After the interviews were conducted, the Trump administration announced that because of the dangerously cold weather, only some of the planned participants would take part in a scaled-down indoor viewing party at Capital One Arena in Washington on Monday. The Black Horse Troop and Equestriennes were not included.
Instead, the Black Horse Troop and Equestriennes marched in parade, in full dress uniform while carrying American flags, at Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on Sunday in an event open to parents and all supporters of Culver Academies.
Click on the links below to see the students and Capt. Sean “Skip” Nicholls, Culver’s director of horsemanship, being interviewed by the media:
NBC Chicago: Indiana equestrian team to perform at Trump inauguration – NBC Chicago
WISH-TV Indianapolis: Culver Academies Black Horse Troop in presidential inaugural parade - Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic | WISH-TV |
NBC South Bend: Culver Academies' Black Horse Troop prepares to take part in Inauguration Parade
Fox/CBS South Bend: Culver Academies' Black Horse Troop prepares to participate in 19th Inauguration Parade
ABC South Bend: Culver Academies Horsemanship students to appear in Presidential Inaugural Parade
WTCA Plymouth: Culver Academies to appear in Washington D.C. at Presidential Inaugural Parade Monday - GIANT fm
WSBT-TV reporter Asher Bookspan interviews Kate Laherty '25. (Photo by Scott Johnson)