ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — The Army this month closed on an over $8 million deal to purchase a Loudoun County training facility as the new home for the horses that serve Arlington National Cemetery, an Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) official confirmed with 7News.

Officials said the roughly $8.6 million purchase of the 149-acre Middleburg Training Facility will provide the Army 3rd Infantry Regiment's Caisson Detachment with better facilities compared to those at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall and Fort Belvoir.

When the Old Guard will begin using the facility for it's military and state funeral horses was not immediately known, according to an ACE spokesperson. The new facilities will sit 60 miles away from Arlington National Cemetery, compared to the 20 mile distance from Fort Belvoir. Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall borders the cemetery western end.

The facility confirmed the purchase on it's website.

"We are privileged to support the Army’s very important work that honors Americans who've done so much for our nation," a statement on the facility's website now reads. "We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for tenants, employees, customers and the Army."

Initially built in 1956, the Middleburg Training Facility touts 11 barns, 220 stalls, 40 paddocks, and a 7/8-mile long track. Since 2017, it had been owned by Charles Kuhn, founder of JK Moving Service, according to an archived version of the facility's website.

The center was the training home for 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Spectacular Bid, according to it's website.

A search for new training facilities began after a 2022 report into poor living and training conditions that led to the deaths of several horses, which are used to transport funeral caskets, within a year. In 2023, the Army stopped using the horse-drawn caissons, but slowly reintroduced them in 2025 starting with President Jimmy Carter's funeral.

In March 2025, two people were hurt during a training exercise involving the Old Guard's horses. In late April, the Office of Army Cemeteries and Army National Military Cemeteries began a limited return of the horse-drawn caissons.