War Horses Poem by Colin Ian Jeffery

At the outbreak of World War One horses were used as cavalry, then because of trench warfare to pull guns, carry ammunition and transport supplies. Over 8 million horses died on all sides. British horses who survived were sold to Belgium butchers.


Shrill neighing horses
Terrified on battlefields
Harnessed to big guns
Eyes wide with fright
Pulling through the clinging mud.

Proud animals with spirits broken
Treated as beasts of burden
Moving ammunition, guns and shells
Abused and whipped
Supplying the trenches of hell.

No respite nor mercy
Slaughtered by enemy fire
Dreaming of green fields of home
And cantering free and joyful
Without the terrors of Man's war.