![]() ![]() Prized for their amazing stamina, they endured the terrible conditions on the front-line far better than the horse. In addition, a large number of mules were also purchased from the USA. Horses were also shipped from New Zealand, South Africa, India, Spain and Portugal. A lot of the horses were taken from the North American plains and many were half wild. With the horses being so vital to the war effort there were constant threats of naval attacks and even attempts at poisoning of horses before even embarking on the journey. The demand for horses was so great due to the heavy losses, between 19 in the United States a 1,000 horses a day were loaded on to ships bound for Europe. The conditions on the Western Front were so appalling they were totally unsuitable for motor vehicles. In 1914 the British Army owned only 80 motor vehicles so the dependence on horses for transporting goods and supplies was significant. Many of the men, grooms, infantrymen, cavalrymen and others formed close bonds with the horses in their charge, but they could do little to prevent the appallingly high death rate due to shelling, front-line charges and exhaustion. On arrival in France they would soon be confronted by the horrors of the front line either as cavalry horses or as beasts of burden. The horses were transported to the ports where they were hoisted onto ships to cross the Channel. Crucial to agriculture at the time, the impact of having their finest and beloved horses requisitioned by the Government was immense on farming families. During the first year of the war the British countryside was virtually emptied of horses, from the heavy draft horses such as the Shire through to the lighter riding ponies. The urgent task of sourcing half a million more became the responsibility of the War Office. When war began in 1914 the British army possessed a mere 25,000. Eight million horses and countless mules and donkeys died in the First World War. ![]()
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