Song Spurs Rider to White House

Sporting a cavalry hat, leather coat and sword, David Stiglitz attracted some attention Thursday as he arrived at the White House on horseback.

Stiglitz, 39, had ridden all the way from Madison, Wis., to the White House to give President Bush a copy of the country song he recorded, called “I Am America.” But Bush was at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

A scrum of Secret Service agents surrounded Stiglitz as he arrived at the White House, asking, among other things, whether that was a real sword at his side.

“He sticks out like a sore thumb,” one agent said. “That’s why he was interviewed.”

Agents made him move away from the White House gate. But they let him stay for a little while on Pennsylvania Avenue with his horse, Montana, friend Steve Uselmann and a pickup truck and trailer.

The street is closed to traffic for security reasons.

Stiglitz asked an officer to give the compact disc to Bush but was told he’d be better off mailing it.

“I am America and freedom’s my first name,” the country song goes. It ends with his parents reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Stiglitz, who says he’s on disability from the Marine Corps for head and facial injuries, gets around his town of Seven Mile Creek, Wis., on the back of his 13-year-old thoroughbred.

He rode about 650 miles of the 880-mile trip, putting the horse in a trailer for the remainder.

Stiglitz said the trip cost him about $10,000 and took 24 days.