War Horse and real war horses
Feb. 24th, 2012 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
birdienl
This week, I finally watched War Horse, which I've been looking forward to since I first heard of the movie being made. I mean, a historical epic movie about a brave horse? That is precisely up my street! I enjoyed it tremendously!
I will not give you a lengthy review, because there are more than enough of those around the WWW already. Let's just say it was a movie that touched my heart, and I believe it will touch many other viewer's hearts, because it is a truly unique tale of the horrors of war and the strength of everyone who lives through it.
The movie led me to search the web for true stories of war horses and I found many. Here are two I would like to share with you:
Warrior; the horse the Germans couldn't kill:
Warrior was the horse of General Jack Seeley and together, the pair cheated death hunderds of times during the four years of WWI. He was said to be fearless in battle, not running away from shellfire. His bravery would become a symbol of hope to the young soldiers. When they saw him, they would crowd round him and and touch him, hoping some of his luck would rub of on them. Three times his stable was shelled and he escaped. Warrior and the General took part in one of history's last ever cavalry charges on March 30, 1918 against the Germans at Amiens.
After the War Warrior became a celebrity. He attended victory parades in Hyde Park and was visited by distinguished guests as Queen Mary and Winston Churchill. He lived to the ripe old age of 33 and was given an obituary in The Times upon his death!
General Jack Seeley has written a book about his horse, which is still in print today and can be bought from Amazon here.
Dorothy Brooke and her Old War Horse Memorial Hospital
Horses were not only in use at the Western Front, there were also many fighting in the Middle East. Most of these befell a very different fate after the War ended when compared to Warrior. They were sold as work horses to the locals.
In 1930, Dorothy Brooke, wife of a British cavalry officer, traveled to Egypt. Here, she was shocked to see the former cavalry horses being worked to death in the streets of Cairo. She immediately took action, sending a letter to the Morning Post, which brought in enough funds to buy back over 5000 of these horses and give them a pension surrounded with loving care. She also founded the Old War Horse Memorial Hospital, in which poor owners of work horses, mules and donkeys could bring their animals to be treated for free.
Now, over 75 years later, the charity now called Brooke Hospital for Animals is still giving free veterinary help and advice to poor horse owners in Egypt, India, Pakistan and Jordan.
They are one of my 'favourite' charities and I've been supporting them for a while now, but I never before realized their history linked with the war horses of WWI!
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Date: 2012-02-24 01:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-24 09:21 pm (UTC)Brave yourself for some tears when you're going to watch War Horse, but also for a very good 2,5 hours!
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Date: 2012-02-24 10:33 pm (UTC)I've never heard of that before but that is such a nice thing to have. Vet bills can be very high so it's great owners there can get their loved pets some care for free.
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Date: 2012-02-25 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-24 10:56 pm (UTC)And I am definitely looking forward to seeing War Horse - though I will have to wait till it comes out on DVD. Movie theater visits are very rare in my life. : P
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Date: 2012-02-25 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-28 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-25 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-25 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-25 02:55 pm (UTC)