Art Friday: Horses
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| By Jim Daley |
Art Friday: Horses
Today's Art Friday is for a young lady who loves horses. I do hope you enjoy this collection of horses, a creature that has been so loyal to us . . . taking us places, settling new nations, helping us farm, moving supplies around countries, help in the delivery of mail, carry soldiers in battles, giving us companionship. They are magnificent creatures. The history of humans are intertwined with horses.
This week Australians remembers our ANZACS (soldiers) who fought at Gallipoli (Turkey) 100 years ago. As one would expect, we remember the loss of human life during war, but sadly we forget the loss of animal life as a result of war. Australia sent 130,000 horses overseas in World War One, only one returned (Sandy, who belonged to Major General Sir William Bridges who died at Gallipoli). Many died and sadly many were put down at the end of the war as it was considered too expensive to return them to Australia.
Horses during the war were used to pull ambulances, carry supplies (such as portable kitchens) and ordnances and act as cavalry mounts. They worked incredibly hard and with complete loyalty. At the end of this collection I have included some photos of horses at war to remember those beautiful innocent creatures who went into battle in WW1.
Tragically, around 8 million horses, mules and donkeys perished in WW1, a total of 16 million animals died as a direct result of WW1 (those used as part of the war effort), including cats, dogs, birds etc..
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| Tim Cox (above and below) |
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| Dennis Ziemienski |
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| Bill Anton |
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| Robert Duncan (above and below) |
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| Victoria Wilson-Schultz |
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| Heidi Presse |
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| Jeremy Winborg |
Horses during World War One
For those interested, the horses sent from Australia were called "Walers". According to the Australia War Memorial: The horses were called Walers because, although they came from all parts of Australia, they were originally sold through New South Wales. They were sturdy, hardy horses, able to travel long distances in hot weather with little water. Horses usually need to drink about 30 litres of water a day. However, during the campaign in the Middle East, they often went for up to 60 hours without water, while carrying a load of almost 130 kilograms, comprising rider, saddle, equipment, food, and water.
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The above-mentioned young lady was delighted with this collection of horse & wagon photos and artwork! :D Thank you! Her favourites are the one of the snow where the little child is being dragged along behind the horse, the one with the pioneer camp with the horses in the background, and the one of the horse being ridden by the two small children. :)
ReplyDeletePersonally I loved too many of them to list!! This is a great collection - horses are such majestic creature, and I love the old-fashioned ones with the wagons, too. :) My little young man liked the last photo best of all "because it has a ship in it"! ;) hehe!
So glad she loved them :))) I struggled to find just one favourite today , horses are so beautiful . Can you imagine that war ship full of horses, it must have smelt quite bad by the time they got to Europe ! I wonder how many horses were on each ship as they transported so many ?
DeleteHorses have contributed much to the history of man when you think about it! Without them for transportation and work on farms and in early industry, things would not have been done so well, or with less effort on the part of humans. People are always quick to laud the progress of man and HIS civilisation, but the many creatures that God also created have also had a part in the so-called progress.
ReplyDeleteSome great paintings, I was listing my favourites mentally, but the list got too long to remember! =)
love,
Bets
Without animals we would have been lost (over run with mice to struggling with transportation), they have been integral to the development of society but we sadly take these gracious creatures for granted and quite willing to hurt them and use them for entertainment (i.e. horse racing). Glad you enjoyed this selection.
DeleteBeautiful paintings of majestic animals.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly are :)
DeleteI love watching horses! We live in rural Wyoming where the cowboy life is still strong. Horses are beautiful and inspiring. Thanks for this wonderful collection. What a nice way to start the morning! Stopping by from Art of Homemaking.
ReplyDeleteYou would certainly be familiar with horses as I think of horses and cowboys when I think of Wyoming!!
DeleteBEAUTIFUL pictures! What a nice collection... I am pinning it. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoy these beautiful creatures :))
DeleteWhat beautiful pictures and I appreciate you sharing them at Good Morning Mondays. I have a little girl who loves horses too and I know she will appreciate these pictures too. I didn't know the information about WW1 so thanks for sharing that too, it must have been such an awful time for man and beast. Blessings
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed this :))
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