Bit of a change today, as I am currently writing a review of Diana Ahmad’s Success Depends on the Animals for H-Net. I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Diana’s book about emigrants and their animals on the overland trails in America from 1840 to 1869. What has perhaps fascinated me most are the strong parallels that can be drawn between the emigrants and their livestock and my own research into the soldier-horse relationship during The Great War. Diana describes how emigrants often knew very little about oxen, horses, or mules before undertaking their epic journey, but soon came to trust and respect the animals with whom they shared the dangers and privations of the overland trails. Like many soldiers of the First World War, they also realised the importance of always putting their animals’ needs first; often risking their own lives to save them from danger.
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Soldiers and their Horses 