Opinion: 100 black horses and 10,000 marchers to salute Obama

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One of the most interesting aspects of the presidential inaugural parade for Barack Obama is the inclusion of about 10,000 marchers from all 50 states stepping off behind the new chief executive in the 56th inaugural parade.

But two of the groups, from Indiana’s Culver Academies, will be stepping off on four feet.

About 100 horses with young men and women, each with superior academic standing, will ride down the 1.5-mile parade route. The group will be led by the famed Black Horse Troop (see photo above from the 2005 parade). It’s likely the largest remaining mounted unit in the country and one that first marched in a presidential inaugural parade for President Wilson in 1913.

They’ll be followed by the Equestriennes, a newer group of riders from Culver’s Girls Academy. Each will carry an American flag.

Other music and cultural groups will join representatives from our armed forces in the historic parade, which concludes at the presidential reviewing stand in front of the White House, where the new president and vice president will watch the processional with their families.

The parade order below was official at dawn today but is subject to minor last-minute changes. Print it out for your TV viewing. The official parade order appears below.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Planned Obama Inaugural Parade Order:

Representatives from the U.S. Army, United States Military Academy & U.S. Army Reserve
Punahou School JROTC
Punahou School Marching Band
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Navy JROTC
Isiserettes Drill and Drum Corps
Jesse White Tumbling Team
Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band
Crow Nation of Montana
Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School Marching Band
Illinois Home State Float
Brooklyn Music and Arts Program
Theodore Roosevelt High School Marine Corps JROTC Color Guard and Drill Team
Colts Drum and Bugle Corps
Klein Collins High School Air Force JROTC
Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drums
Southern Ohio Ladies Aside
Redwood Middle School Marching Band and Auxiliary Units
Representatives of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Delaware Volunteer Firemen’s Assn.
University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band, the Pride of Delaware
Delaware Home State Float
Alexis I. duPont High School Band
Comfort Carriages
Tuskegee Airmen
Delaware State University Marching Band
Special Olympics Inc.
Sanford High School Marching Band
Peace Corps Community
Adams Central High School Patriot Band
Oneida Nation Veterans
Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps
Idaho State Leadership: State and Tribal Representatives
Roosevelt High School Marching Band
Suurimmaanitchuat Eskimo Dance Group
South Cobb High School Blue Eagle Marching Band
Representatives of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Naval Academy & U.S. Navy Reserve
Brattleboro High School Marching Band
George Washington University
Petal High School Marching Band
Freedom Riders
Bonnie Brae Knights
Federal Protection Service
Trumbull High School Golden Eagle Marching Band
American Workers Contingent
East Greenwich High School Avenger Band
Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, Kan.
Green Valley High School Marching Band
Angel Drill Team
Manning High School Golden Pride Marching Band
Wind River Reservation Youth Council
Lincoln Highway National Museum and Archives
University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band
Tempel Lipizzans of Tempel Farms
University of Arkansas Marching Band
Representatives of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Air Force Academy & U.S. Air Force Reserve
Mountain Ridge High School Pride of the West Marching Band
United Tribes Technical College
Montana Delegation
Hampton University Marching Force
AmeriCorps Alums
North Allegheny High School Tiger Marching Band
World Famous Lawn Rangers from Amazing Arcola
Blue Springs High School Golden Regiment Marching Band
McCrossan Boys Ranch
Colony High School Knights Marching Band
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, Company A
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment
Espanola Valley High School Mariachi Sol Del Valle
1965 Mustang of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department
Grambling State University World Famed Tiger Marching Band
Nicholas County Army JROTC, the Wilderness Battalion
J. P. Taravella High School Band
Representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Academy & U.S. Coast Guard Reserve
Morton High School Marching Band
U.S. Border Patrol
Harding University High School Marching Band of Gold
Hawaii Home State Float
Howard University Showtime Marching Band
Pennsylvania Home State Float
Lesbian and Gay Band Assn.
Mobile Azalea Trail Maids
Londonderry High School Marching Lancer Band and Color Guard
T.C. Williams High School Army JROTC
Windsor High School Marching Band
Michigan’s Multi Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team and Color Guard
Ohio State University Marching Band
Boy Scouts of America, Troop 358, Philadelphia, PA
Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital, Troops 1803 & 382
Fergus Falls High School Marching Band
Representatives from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Evergreen High School Marching Band
Culver Academies
Carl Sandburg High School Marching Eagles
USO Float
Carnaval de San Anto, the URBAN 15 Group
Prevention Partnership, Warren County, Ky., Sheriff’s Office
Siloam Springs High School Band
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assn.
Get a Life Marching Band
Union High School Air Force JROTC
University of Utah Marching Band
Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets
NASA Astronaut Crew and NASA Lunar Electric Rover

Credits: Culver Military Academy (Black Horse Troop in 2005 inaugural parade, top, and Equestriennes, bottom; Michelle Maltais / Los Angeles Times (presidential reviewing stand)