It took only a brief moment for Leslee Whelan to make the transition from civilian to soldier Friday.
Whelan, mounted, raised his right hand and became the newest member of the U.S. Army Blue Devils Horse Platoon.
Several hundred people braved cooler than normal temperatures and fierce rain to watch the ceremony from the stands as part of Friday's memorial service and skill-at-arms competition and horse show at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds.
Maj. Gen. Robert Pollman, commander of the Regional Readiness Command, said Whelan was the first soldier to take the oath of office while mounted in 113 years.
"It was common before 1900 for the members of the Mounted Infantry and the Cavalry to enlist from the backs of the horses they were to care for, love and trust," said the narrator of the event. "That care, love and trust would pay off in combat, as the horse would repay his rider with is life."
His parents, Buzz and Nancy Whelan of Hartford, watched from the stands tears in their eyes.
"I'm very proud," said his mother, tears streaming down her face. "I never imaged (him joining the military). It was the furthest thing from our minds."
But it makes sense for the young Michigan farm boy, said his mother.
"His grandfather had him on horses since he was 9-weeks old and he’s been riding ever since," Nancy Whelan said.
Riders and horse of the U.S. Army Blue Devils Horse Platoon, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment of the British Army, and the Queens Cavalry Escort of Honor of the Royal Netherlands Army stood at attention in remembrance of fallen soldiers. Army Sgt. 1st Class Rick Herrema, a Michigan soldier who was killed two weeks ago in Iraq, Huzaar J.G. Dykers, a Dutch soldier killed during World War II, and Spc. Randy Alyworth, a Michigan soldier killed during Vietnam were just a few of the soldiers remembered as Ruth Roon of Hudsonville, a relative of Alyworth, placed a bouquet of brightly colored tulips on the back of "the spirit horse," a horse that wears no saddle, carries no rider and says for all of us, "We will never forget you, you will live in our hearts, now and always," said the narrator.
Gina and Rick Hutchinson of Waterville, Ohio said they appreciated the memorial service.
"It was very moving," Gina Hutchinson said.
The couple arrived Thursday night with their four daughters and said they were having a good time in spite of the rain.
Cuddled tight against her mother, Lydia, 7, said the horses were "very pretty."
"I like the big ones," she said watching the Queen's Cavalerie perform a mounted charge, racing forward in a single line.
Coming in to visit with the crowd, Sgt. 1st Class Cindy Babb, dressed in a raincoat and hat covered in plastic, rode Norman, a 23-year-old Shire cross named Norman.
"He's really enjoyed himself," Babb said patting Norman on the neck. "He likes to play."
Babb said Norman was a gift to the platoon's Chief Warrant Officer Richard Dyk from the Queen of England.
"He was a police horse used for riot control. He's done it all, he's a great mount to have," she said before heading out to the field.
The ground closest to the bleachers was far too muddy to perform the combat exercises. So riders and horses used the further field to practice their maneuvers.
The horse show included several forms of combat from the Middle Ages to the end of the modern-horse cavalry when skill still mattered in war. Riders performed mounted and authentic lance charges.
After the show, Julie Haan, a Holland-native who now lives in Iowa, said the horse show was originally on her agenda.
"Everything else was canceled," said Haan, who had planned to see the parade and Dutch dances.
However, after watching the horses perform Haan said,
"I'd like to learn more about the history association with these horses, it seems very interesting."
Dressed in gloves and several layers Haan with several blankets pressed to her chest said she brought her three children from Iowa to experience the festival and see where she grew-up.
"I love Tulip Time. I love celebrating Dutch heritage," Haan said.
The appreciation of Dutch heritage is something Ritmeester, translated from Dutch it means Riding Master, Robert van den Berg, finds endearing.
This is the Royal Netherlands Army Head Officer's fourth year in Holland.
"I think we can be very happy and proud of how we succeed and trained with our horses," van den Berg said.
Chief Warrant Officer Dyk agreed.
"We couldn't practice yesterday because it was pissing down rain but I was so proud of them they did so well today," Dyk said. "It was like they knew why we were here."
Both men agreed the rain wasn't too much of a hardship for the horses or the soldiers. They're used to extreme weather changes in the Netherlands too, van den Berg said.
"Rain isn't new to us, only in Michigan is it new," said the captain as he laughed.
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