The U.S. Army's history is closely tied to its cavalry units, those soldiers who rode into battle on horseback. But the service announced Tuesday that it's moving toward a future without the ceremonial horses and will put most of them up for adoption.

The U.S. Army is retiring a majority of its ceremonial horse programs. The service branch announced in a press release that they will be "streamlining its Military Working Equid program to align more resources with warfighting capability and readiness.

The Army is ending five equine programs to save a couple million dollars a year. It might also be a wise move for animal welfare reasons.