What happened to the horses repatriated during World War I? Historian
Dot Broady-Hawkes investigates the ef orts to stabilise the equine population
THE figure of 484,000 has been
put on the number of British Army
horses and mules killed in action
or lost through disease during the
Great War of 1914-1918. Others
were lost during the sea journey across the
Atlantic from North America — those animals
didn’t even reach England for training. Yet
more died during the harsh winter of 1914-15.
It took the initiative of Derbyshire Circus
owner Fred Ginnett to prevent more horses
perishing from exposure. He donated huge
shelter tents to the Army Remount Service,
which made a vast improvement on the losses.
From the first few months of World War I,
the British Army set up large remount depots
in the UK, close to the major ports. The army
acted swiftly in sending their Army Remount
Service horse buyers to North America and
Canada to secure huge numbers of wild horses.
These horses were rounded up, taken to
railheads and then shipped to the coastal ports
of Virginia. From there they were transported
across the Atlantic, being stabled in temporary
shelters often on the deck of a ship. These
ships were, of course, a legitimate target of the
German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic and
several ships were sunk, with huge losses of
men and horse.
Some of the wild horses and mules shipped
over, the number being 428,600 horses and
275,100 mules, were at first deemed to be
cast-ofs as they were too wild to train and gave
the army grooms a tough time. Fred Ginnett
again saved many of those animals from being
discarded as he brought in his Mexican trick
riders from his circus who were able to train
the horses suiciently for easy handling by the
grooms. Every horse that passed fitness and
training was given a stamp on its right front
hoof to enable a regimented identification of
every single animal and, as they left the depots
for service at the front, the grooms lined up to
salute them as they were loaded on to trains.
THE army had an establishment of
165,000 horses in the first few weeks
of the war but, by the end of hostilities,
900,000 horses and 270,000 mules had been
mobilised. Much of the work and commitment
by individuals such as Fred Ginnett would
have a huge impact on the number of equines
returned to the UK both during the war and
after hostilities ceased.
Without the tireless work of a number of
animal charities, the number of horses and
mules lost would have been a lot higher. Even
in pre-war peacetime, the statistics showed
that the average life of a cavalry horse was
just five years and an army draught horse
seven years.
During the first couple of years of the war
that would “end by Christmas”, horses were
vital for transport, more capable of getting
through the deep rain-sodden mud than
any motor vehicle. The domestic supply of
heavy draught horses at the start of the war,
which accounted for 17% of the horses in use
on farms, by carters, canal boat operators
and other trades, did not recover to pre-war
levels for a long time and, although surplus or
unsuitable horses were sold in small numbers
to the public throughout the war, these did
little to alleviate the loss to those businesses
dependent on horsepower.
Horses unfit for service in Eastern Europe,
however, were not necessarily treated with
such care and the British Army was selling its
unfit animals to locals without considering
their care or wellbeing — and it was stopped by
Lord Derby once the practice was brought to
his attention in 1916.
By the spring of 1919, it is recorded that
158,000 British Army horses had been sold at
auctions across the world and this had raised
almost £13m by the early summer that year.
In Italy, Salonika and Mesopotamia, the
highest prices were paid for demobilised
horses and mules, averaging £75 for a light
draught horse and £47 for mules. In the UK,
the prices for repatriated horses were far
lower: £34 for a draught horse and £17 for the
much less valued mule. Some of the Canadian
mules brought over were 16hh, though, and
quite an unknown quantity for the British
farmer or carter. The heavy draught horses
were in great demand in the UK and these
could make £80 to £100, but they were
scarce — Shires, Clydesdales and Percherons
were bought as soon as they were passed fit for
sale. Auctions were held across the country,
ofering hundreds of ex-army horses for sale.
MANY of the horses and mules
returned to the UK during and after
the war, whether injured or sufering
from fatigue, would not have made it back if
not for the care and expertise shown towards
these animals by two particular organisations,
the RSPCA and the Blue Cross Fund.