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(This blog was originally posted on January 4, 2012)
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| Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan |
My first real introduction to the
concept of a War Horse was in the song, “Comanche (The Brave Horse),” by
Johnny Horton and Francis Bandy. This 1959 tribute describes the deeds
of an equine survivor of the Battle of the Little
Big Horn. According to the lyrics of this ballad, Comanche was the
only survivor of this infamous battle. This was not true, but he was severely
injured. After being rescued from the battlefield, the horse—which was
owned by Captain Myles Keogh, not General Custer—recovered from his wounds and
lived the rest of his life as a hero of the American cavalry. I get goose-bumps
whenever I listen to the song—which is often, as it is part of an iTunes play
list I created for my new horse, Galahad.
Galahad is an Arazzon:
a "hybrid" in that he is one-half Arabian and one-half Lipizzaner. His Arabian side makes him a
direct descendant of the original war horse, the Arabian.
The Arabian dates back 2000 years. They are legendary campaign horses in
the North African and Arabian deserts: Bedouin warriors would ride
mares to battle, leaving the stallions to protect the women and
children at the camps.
Arabians are also the seminal breed
used to create the elegant and rare Lipizzaner four hundred years ago. (The
Arabian stallion Siglavy is a foundation sire of this breed.)
Although the Lipizzaner elevated battle maneuvers to an art form
in haute école, these
horses were never used in actual combat. They were bred exclusively for the Hapsburg royal family to
ride. Over the centuries, various wars have pushed the breed to the
brink of extinction. During World War II, American General George S. Patton
famously helped Colonel
Alois Podhasky, the director of the Spanish
Riding School, to smuggle the horses out of Austria. These
days, Lipizzaners are renown for their haute école performances at the Spanish Riding School, where
the levade, capriole and courbette thrill audiences.
In December 2011, Steven Spielberg released the
film adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel, War Horse. At first, I was
very wary about going to see the movie. It wasn't that I didn't want
to watch the movie. I really did. But I knew it would be a tearjerker.
I ultimately did go to watch the
movie. It was very well done. But, I won't say that I "enjoyed"
watching it. The battle scenes were harrowing. Not just because war
is so devastating, but because the humans who went to war knew (sort of) what
they were getting into. However, the equine soldiers who were similarly
drafted to charge into the machine-gun fire and swinging swords did not.
When the movie let out, I drove to the
barn to see my horse. I wanted to thank him for his gentle companionship and
any sacrifices his forbears made for their human companions. On
the cover of her book titled Perfect Partners, Kelly Marks encourages
everyone to strive to be “the owner that your horse would choose for
himself.”
Galahad, that is what I will do for
you.
This blog is posted in loving tribute to the service men and service
women and the canine and equine soldiers who have sacrificed so much throughout
our country’s history to protect our freedom at home and abroad.
Sara R. Fogan,
C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California.
She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®,
please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
