Battlefield Horse Carcasses

wolfcoln
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Kerry,
I dont think that is it. I think the book is by a infantry man but I dont remember. It has been quite some time since I read it. But what the heck, maybe I am wrong.... I don't quite remember. The same book talked about sawing off the horses legs after they dumped them in the hole so they would fit better.
Thanks
Terry
kerry savee
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Terry,

Probably not this book, then. I don't remember anything like that in this book, just complaining about the smell not necessarily doing anything about it.

Kerry

<i>"ride your horse forward and set him straight"</i> Gustav Steinbrecht
Mike K.
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I have "Good-Bye, Old Man" framed on the wall over my desk in my office next to my Grandfather's framed certificate from his US Cavalry service.
On the passing of horses, I remember one of our work horses that was struck by lightning and killed on the farm when I was a boy. It was catastrophic(as they were part of the family) and my one sister cried profusly. We could see him very vividly lying dead in the pasture from the house.
On the other side it was common practice here in the 'dirty thirties' for trappers to buy up old horses to pack them into their trap lines in the fall. When they got in there they buthered them and dried the meat for their dog teams for the winter. In the spring, they would either come out with their dog teams on the rivers before break-up of build rafts and float down the rivers with their furs. It's called survival in the real world!
mike.moore
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Here is a good history of the Army’s Mortuary Affairs program for humans.

http://www.qmfound.com/grave.htm

Haven’t seen any discussion regarding animals however.
Pat Holscher
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John Fitzgerald
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Pat Holscher</i>
<br />Not carcases, but nearly so.

Equine casualties of WWII.

http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs ... gure85.jpg

http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs ... gure86.jpg

Pat
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Photos of wounded men most pitiful. Photos of wounded horses are even more pitiful.

John Fitzgerald
Eagle County, Colorado

Ride'm like you stole'm
Dick A.
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Concerning the earlier comment that horses avoid dead animals. Back in the 50's I worked in a coal mine that used mine ponies to move coal cars from the work place to the heading. In a rare occasion a runaway coal car hit and killed a pony. Even though there was very little blood and the carcass was disposed of immediately, outside of the mine, everytime another pony passed this spot it would shy or bulk. They continued to avoid this spot up until the time we discontinued the use mine ponies.

Dick A.
Pat Holscher
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Dick A.</i>
<br />Concerning the earlier comment that horses avoid dead animals. Back in the 50's I worked in a coal mine that used mine ponies to move coal cars from the work place to the heading. In a rare occasion a runaway coal car hit and killed a pony. Even though there was very little blood and the carcass was disposed of immediately, outside of the mine, everytime another pony passed this spot it would shy or bulk. They continued to avoid this spot up until the time we discontinued the use mine ponies.

Dick A.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I'm really surprised that mine ponies were used that late. I would have thought they went out in the 20s.

Where was the mine located?

Your example is very interesting. Horses are simply very spooked about the smell of dead things. I think it contributes to some superstitious beliefs about horses to an extent. Their instinct is genuinely very highly developed in this area.

Given that, it's surprising that horses are able to be used in certain endeavors, the past military one being one of them. That instinct must have had to have been overcome on the battlefield.

Pat
Tom Muller
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Pat,

I think it depends on what horses got used to. Our horses weren't spooky at all concerning all sorts of dead things, this is corpses and animal carcasses. But then again, they were used to at least animal carcasses from early on. What they did was showing us immediately if there were any "dead things" lying around in the bush (besides showing us all sorts of other things too). They were encouraged to do so, cause it could save your life!

Tom
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I wouldn't argue that horses are suspicious of dead things but I think there's more to it than that. A deer crossing I used to pass by daily would often have roadkill nearby and one day it struck me that my animals were as suspicious of the place itself as they were of any carcasses that might be there, maybe more so. I can't prove it but that became my working theory from observing them in contrasting situations which tended to cancel out the variables.

For example, uninitiated horses would pass the place without a care if there were no bodies around or if they weren't tipped off by other horses. And some of my horses that were pretty used to deer, live and dead, were nonetheless very wary of the places were death was common.

Sandy
selewis
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Another thing I've noticed is that horses seem to have a good sense for likely spots for an ambush. Whether this is learned or instinctive I don't know- probably some of both. Caves, narrow spots in the trail with overhanging rocks or branches, and of course any kind of change since their last visit, all seem to arouse them.

Regarding change, I believe they have some sort of photographic template in their minds that alerts them to any difference in their surroundings, or something like that. It's hard to believe that that they actually 'remember' the exact position of every little rock but something sets them off when things are the slightest bit different from the last time that they were there- sometimes months later. Very disconcerting to have your horse hugging the edge of a cliff to get away from a bush that's not there anymore.

I did a small show onetime at a barn that my horse knew well and I remember naively thinking, before the event, that I and my fellow students would have a home-field advantage, working in their usual schooling area with familiar obstacles. But just the opposite was the case. Horses that had never been there before were mostly fine with the place, but the home team was entirely preoccupied with all the changes and put in a miserable showing. I'm told that this is not uncommon.

Sandy
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kerry savee wrote:What was done with horse carcasses that were the result of battlefield action?
Image
Pat Holscher
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Image
Couvi
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Pat Holscher wrote:Image
What, pray tell, is he doing with that ax? :shock:
jan
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Several bend German steel lances can also been seen on the first photo, that part of the battlefield is still much the same today.

A link to a story of a visit to the Haelen battlefield a few days after the fighting,
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_ ... eld_01.htm

Jan
selewis
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Its possible that he's taking off legs.
Pat Holscher
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A couple more of the aftermath of the same battle:

Image

Image
Pat Holscher
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jan wrote:Several bend German steel lances can also been seen on the first photo, that part of the battlefield is still much the same today.

A link to a story of a visit to the Haelen battlefield a few days after the fighting,
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_ ... eld_01.htm

Jan
This is an interesting battle. I'd never heard of it before, but it's a pretty good example of why confronting dismounted troops armed with modern weapons with cavalry was a bad idea in 1914, particularly if you had terrain disadvantage.
tmarsh
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In the photo with the gentleman with the axe. Would he be saving the shoes? Tom
Couvi
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tmarsh wrote:In the photo with the gentleman with the axe. Would he be saving the shoes? Tom
Could be, but it would be a less than desirable job for any reason.
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