War Horses Poem by Colin Ian Jeffery

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


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

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

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