War Horses
Facing shot and shell
The need for Veterinary Surgeons
Horses are an "Arm" of a fighting force of which comparatively little is heard, and yet they are subject to the same hardships and sufferings as the soldiers. Many of them are just as heroic and display almost as much intelligence. Some of them are even more adept in the art of warfare than the men. Many of the animals are said to rival the gunners in their ability to gauge correct gun distances. Instinctively they swing a gun round at the prescribed distance. Needless to say the men love these horses greatly. They attend to them with the same minute regard as they give to themselves, every little comfort they can give to a horse, in wartime is given, and they know it is appreciated by the animals
The Cossack Horses
The value of the horse as a military asset is beyond measure, yet every effort has been made to supplant him, and mechanical power has gone a long way towards doing it. The Germans especially have made great efforts in this direction. Trundling guns behind tractors was one of the methods of warfare from which they expected so much. The Belgians in turn have performed wonders with cycle, he will carry his cycle as easily as a knapsack. But when, sabre, sword and lance come into play the horse as yet to be outrivaled. The type of horse favoured by the Cossacks vary slightly, according to the territorial locality of the regiment, although in essential aspects they are almost identical. A wiry, active animal, seldom exceeding 15 hands, often much smaller, and showing a decided cross of the Tartar, though its quality has probably been improved by more aristocratic strains, in Cossack hands it is wonderfully handy, quick on its feet, and will respond to the knee or voice without the intervention of rein or bit. Moreover, it is impervious to cold, can exist on very rough forage rations, and its staying powers are practically inexhaustible.
The Belgian Horse
The Belgian horse, however, is perhaps one of the most ancient and truest. Belgian people have always been great horse breeders, and it is always stated that Roman cavalry were mounted upon Belgian horses. In fact, Belgium possesses a Government breeding stud, and a grant of £1,500 is annually devoted to horse breeding. One of the characteristics of these horses is their kindly disposition. In size and weight they vary according to the district from which they are obtained, though generally they range from 15 to 16 hands. They are large of head, straight of face, large in the nostrils and have small eyes. Their ears are small, neck, thick and strong, and heavily muscled, and they have a short, broad, back, and short thick legs free from long hair. Their great value in this war has lain un their adaptability for draught purposes, for moving about backwards and forward of the big guns.
The Charging Hunter
In the English cavalry the full blooded hunter can be said to be the established type. Hunter breeding has been encouraged because hunters are the best possible troop horses. Nothing could be finer, it is said, than the horses with the 9th Lancers began this campaign. These hunter horses have proved themselves quite effective for shock tactics. What they lack in weight they make up in pace when a charge is called. The polo pony is considered by some experts to have the making of a useful war arm. Small, active, speedy, and well bred, he has all the qualities of the big horse packed into a little compass, and for scouting and mobility he may yet prove one of the greatest assets of the war. The horse, however, any more than the recruit, cannot be expected to last long on the field of battle unless he has gone through a hardening process. The hunter taken from its comfortable stall, hurried to a troopship, and taken on to the battlefield after much arduous marching, with a reduction in the quality and quantity of food, is not likely to go far in the campaign. A high mortality in horses from sickness can only be expected.
Again, horses like soldiers, are not all alike, to some the smell of powder is as the breath of life, the sound of gunfire sets them aquiver with excitement, while others at these things tremble like a leaf, but the majority are indifferent. Horses which a month or two ago were walking the streets of Liverpool, and would have become panic stricken at the sound of a heavy clap of thunder, no go about their work in the firing line quite indifferent to sudden explosions and the screeching of shells. Naturally, when these horses first approached the firing line they grew restless and whinnied with fright at the thunder of artillery, but in two or three days that restlessness wore away, and now they accept it all with a pacific calm.
The French army has quite a number of mules in its service, and, if anything, these have taken more naturally to the din of battle than the horses, and where donkeys have been employed these have been more insensible still.
Need for vets
It must be confessed, though, that horses on the whole are poor bearers of pain. Highly strung animals, when they are struck by a bullet or shrapnel, are usually filled with an uncontrollable terror and become sheer panic stricken. Nevertheless, some of them, even when wounded are wonderfully brave, and not all wounds are by any means beyond repair. There are base and clearing hospitals for these wounded horses, and quite a large percentage of the wounded horses recover and find their way back again to the firing line. It is said that quite a number of the horses which went out to the front as soon as war broke out are still fighting on as fit and as docile as ever. The great need at the front is stated to be for fully qualified veterinary surgeons. The Director General has put the opportunity forward for veterinary surgeons to attach themselves to the forces and a recruiting department has been established for dealing with applications. These brave war horses in spite of all that is done for them, have to undergo immeasurable suffering, and only by full and efficient equipping of a field veterinary department can these be lessened.
Quite a number of ladies at home are doing something for the horses in the way of making "numnas" felt protection for putting underneath saddles, so that the horses, thinning under the hardships of war, may not have to endure sores through the rubbing of the saddles against their bones. These numnas must be khaki on the outside and white woollen on the inside.
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Liverpool Daily Post 17th November 1914
Sergeant P. RILEY, 16th, Hussars, write to his brother in Liverpool :-
"Am pleased to say we are still being successful all along the line, and we have just reinforced one of our forces, previous to having a bit more fun with them. According to letters taken from prisoners they are inclined to admit they are a beaten country, and the men are very glad when they are captured, owing to the privations which they have to undergo.
General Sir Douglas HAIG with his division had a descent little bag on or about the 23rd inst, 500 killed, 200 of them bayoneted, about 1500 wounded and 600 prisoners, so one or two hauls like that should thin them out somewhat.
Am pleased to tell you I have still got my same mare I brought out with me from England, and sincerely hope I can take her through without a scratch, as she has got me out of several tight corners, and I won't part with her if I can help it.
The weather here at present is excellent for the time of year, though very cold at nights owing to mists which prevail in this country."
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Devon and Exeter Gazette, July 10th 1915
War Horses
A tribute and a plea
"Animals are such agreeable friends, they ask no questions, they pass no criticism."
Years of uncomplaining discharge of duty, many evidences of supreme devotion to owners and masters, and the very feeling of dependence which dumbness inspires, have created a wonderfully strong bond of sympathy between man and the animal which serves him in many spheres of life, our four footed friend, the horse. In earliest childhood the feeling of affection for these voiceless creatures is fostered by pretty incidents such as that in which the child is moved, by feelings of compassion, to feed the horse of the tradesman with lumps of sugar. The fond parent, having given her orders to the tradesman, walks to the garden gate, and holding her little one in her arms, soothes her initial fears of the powerful creature standing patiently between the shafts, and encourages her to place her tiny palm "in mother's hand" and feed the four footed caller, which, with expectant half turned head, and much champing of its bit, anticipates the coveted treat. The gift bestowed, the animal expresses acknowledgment by an energetic shaking of its a head, and a jingling of harness, the tradesman mounts his seat, cracks his whip, and drives away, and the little ceremony is over. Then, as time passes, instances of the faithfulness of the horse are brought to notice in fairy tale romance and history, a familiar episode which lives in the memory of all being that concerning the gallant steed which carried the famous Dick Turpin on his ride to York. The pictures adorning the walls of the home, too, assist to cement the bond of affection. One, in particular, which has been in the possession of many families for a great number of years, illustrates a battlefield scene, reminiscent of Waterloo. The dead cavalryman, attired in the picturesque uniform of a century ago, lies motionless amid the grim havoc and desolation wrought by the whirlwind of war. The remnants of a gun carriage, broken weapons, battered helmets, and all the grim panoply of warfare, are piled in confused heaps. Beside the dead soldier lies his faithful charger, wounded, but struggling to rise, and searching, with mute, appealing eyes for signs of life in the still figure before it. Not so many months ago scores of patient animal workers were drawing their loads along our streets and winding lanes, employed in the delivery of goods for grocer and baker, and bringing the farmer and his family to market, and labouring ceaselessly to supply the multifarious needs of the people. Others there were too, the aristocrats of the equine world, which stepped proudly to town in the shafts of a carriage, or galloped over meadows and moor land, hill and dale, to the exhilarating sound of the winding hunting horn, all cares forgotten in the wild race to keep up with the pack. Each class of animal whether employed in business or pleasure, passed uneventful days, sympathy grew between the driver and his horse, and the rider and his steed, and their companionship bade fair to continue indefinitely.
Then the war clouds gathered, and Army and remount officers scoured the country and removed from their old haunts all the four footed animals found to be in good fettle. Quickly led from the old stables or taken from the shafts of their familiar vehicles they soon found themselves, with many of their fellow creatures, trotting to the nearest railway station, where, locked in their boxes, they were transferred by rail to new scenes. They found their new masters more brisk, perhaps, in their movements, than their old, but, though handled with firmness, they were treated with kindness. Constant association soon used them to their new surroundings, and we find the veteran of the hunting field the mount of the officer or the cavalryman, and the former horse of the tradesman galloping, as to the manner born, in a gun team. Their subsequent history is beyond our men. We often wonder what the fate of our old friends will be. Whether, like many of their riders, they will die in the service of their country, or whether, war scarred, but still fit for action they will return to tread again along the highways and bye ways.
Dumbly, as is their nature, they must do their duty whether on the bullet swept plains of France and Flanders, or aiding in the tremendous task of landing an army on the Gallipoli Peminsula. It is a new experience to our horses to be crowded with other companions in the hold of a great ship, then to be slung from a crane to the landing stage, but all these difficulties and trials are endured with characteristic submissiveness, the pat on the back and encouraging words received from the khaki clad figures awaiting the arrival of the animal arrival on the beach being deemed ample reward for any discomfort experienced. The soldier's love for his horse is proverbial. One cavalryman who recently lost his horse at the Front, deplored the incident in these pathetic words, "They have shot my greatest friend from under me. God forgive them for that. I never will." On many occasions the efforts of the horses, madly rushing forward with much needed guns, have averted a crisis in a battle. Scores of instances could be recorded of soldiers who owe their lives to a fleet footed horse. One soldier on out post duty, was saved from death and was enabled to warn his countrymen of the approach of the foe by observing the signs of restlessness which his steed bestrayed. His remark, in describing the incident, "You bet the old nag had a special feed that night!" an expression with which we all sympathise.
There are no V.C.'s for horses, though many deserve them, but we can all aid in recompensing our four footed heroes by assisting to secure their comfort and to promote that very commendable organisation for the medical treatment of war horses known by the emblem of the Blue Cross