On March 29 just before the stroke of midnight, The Old Guard witnessed the birth of its newest soldier, Cote, a 70-pound colt born in the stables at Fort Myer in Virginia.

Cote was born to Betty Boop, a Percheron-Standardbred cross, and both mare and colt are doing fine.

It was a surprise birth as the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment didn’t know Betty was pregnant. “We usually take the vendor’s word (that a sale horse isn’t pregnant) when we get the horse. But we didn’t know Betty was pregnant until it was too late. It was a good surprise though,” said Chief Warrant Officer Abdullah Johnson, the Caisson Platoon leader.