Richard Collins emailed us asking about what happened to the horses after the war.

"Apparently, my great-grandfather, who was a farmer in Kent, obtained horses from the Remount Depot at Pluckley (about 5 miles west of Ashford) at the end of First World War. Would you happen to know any more about this particular Depot, or generally about the disposal of horses at the end of the War?"

Unfortunately we are unable to find any information on the Remount Depot, however as to what happened to some of the horses, in the Links section there is a link to New Zealand Bess and we did find a story about Sir Percy Lauries famous charger, 'Quicksilver'. 

This horse  was familiar sight in-between the wars to Londoners because of his many public appearances. Pictured above he wears his war medals on his bridle. Quicksilver took part in the Victory march  and attended the funerals of all the great British W.W.I war leaders. His service started at the Somme in 1916 where he was wounded by shrapnel.

He was however, ridden continuously until the end of the war. After a spell in occupied Germany he came to London in 1919 when his master joined the police. Quicksilver wears the Order of the Blue Cross and the 1916~18 Victory and General Service medals. Quicksilver when retired went to the Ada Cole Memorial Stables in Hertfordshire.

As for other horses, during the war it was reported that all over northern France blind horses were being put to the plough, for horses were too badly needed to be shot if they could become casualties.

If they were no longer needed by the Army they could be used by the army in barter with local farmers for obtaining food supplies for the Army.

Finally we also found accounts of  a society called 'Our Dumb Friends League' who purchased from Belgian horse markets old British war horses. Their aim was to rescue  horses which where originally sold into Belgian ownership after war and the League purchased these animals to "Ensure a life of rich pastures and comfortable stables and to be brought back to there home country as old age pension