Another 1,000 horses sent!

This poem is written by Teresa Harrison-Best and is about the horses who were commandeered for active service during World War I

She has been reading about the atrocities they suffered and felt compelled to mark the occasion with something.   They had a dreadful time, yet they were loyal to the bitter end.

Another 1,000 horses sent!

Commandeered for active service,
transported far and wide.
No time for readjustment
to battle side by side.

The sound of shells exploding,
a smell of death so near.
To witness mass destruction
with a look of total fear.

Another 1,000 horses sent!

Wading through the quagmire
loaded to the hilt.
Pulling weight a plenty
moving at full tilt.

Sickness now that ugly shroud,
exhaustion setting in,
exposure from the elements
ripping at the skin.

Another 1,000 horses sent!

Charging at the razor wire,
cutting to the core.
Equine corpses by the road,
just adding to the gore.

Gassed by poison substance,
debility and lame,
sawdust in the foodstuff,
but no one there to blame.

Another 1,000 horses sent!

Shell shocked and so frightened,
battle wounds galore,
vets tend to the obvious
but still there’s so much more.

Man and horse now parted,
death has been no friend.
Equine warriors one and all,
until the bitter end.

Another 1,000 horses sent!

A million hapless horses,
perished in that war.
We honour every one of them
and what they all stood for!

Our four legged warriors!

Written by Teresa Harrison-Best

British soldiers standing on hillside with pack horses