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| Napoleon Bonaparte (Painting by J. L. David) |
theaters brings to mind other recent horse-related news.
On December 18, 2011, The Oakland Press published an article titled “Emotions soar after Congress lifts horse
slaughter ban.” The article contains this vivid description of how horses have often been slaughtered: Typically, horses were rendered unconscious by a captive bolt gun or blow to the center of the forehead. They were then hung with hind legs shackled, and their jugular was severed before being exsanguinated (bled out). Sadly, not all died instantaneously and many were known to suffer unimaginable, inhumane deaths as they remained conscious during dismemberment.
Tragically, horses have also been collateral victims of human wars. Michael Morpurgo, author of the original War Horse children’s novel, drew upon accounts of horse brutality that were told to him by British veterans of World War I. Wikipedia reports that “a million horses died on the British side,” and there was likely “an overall figure of 10 million horse deaths on all sides.” World War I horses “were used for cavalry, and as draught animals, pulling guns, ambulances and other vehicles.”
Prior to World War I, Napoleon Bonaparte’s military horsepower was known as “the most remarkable cavalry force in history.” In her treatise about Napoleon’s “horse of a different color” Marengo, author Jill Hamilton writes: Napoleon was an intrepid rider who usually rode stallions… even at breakneck speed no obstacle worried him. Although Napoleon had some humane equestrian tendencies (such as
forbidding his soldiers to cut the tails of their horses) and believed that horses have “memory, knowledge, and love,” his battlefield strategies were ruthless.
As did his hero, Alexander the Great, Napoleon exploited the natural herd instincts of horses. Both leaders knew all too well that “when one horse charged the rest followed.” Hamilton describes this scene from Napoleon’s decisive battle against the Turks at Aboukir Bay near Alexandria, Egypt: Horses, already hit, blood pouring from their bellies, kept galloping, bursting their hearts to keep pace with the horses beside them. Due to this cavalry strategy, the French won the battle (even though they were initially outnumbered by more than two to one). However, Hamilton reports that “thousands of men and horses perished.”
Horses haven’t always been the recipient of human abuse. In fact, horses have also been worshipped by
Indo-European and Turkic peoples. Wikipedia reports that in Gallo-Roman religion, the goddess Epona was “a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules.” The name “Epona” means “Great Mare” in the Gaulish language. Rhiannon (“a prominent figure in Welsh mythology”) is often shown riding a white horse, and is sometimes identified as “a horse goddess cognate to Gaulish Epona…”
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_worship
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2011/12/18/life/doc4eedf73ecb83e523879205.txt?viewmode=fullstory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Horse_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epona
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhiannon
http://www.jill-hamilton.com/pdf/marengo-the-myth-of-napoleons-horse.pdf
Copyright December 26, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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