YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER |May 2018 | No.193
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Coatesville Remembers on ANZAC Day
Photograph by Neil Baudinet
N
ew Zealand's war horses were among those honoured at the ANZAC Day commemoration service organised by the CRRA. Local equestrian Lynette Herbke and her 23-year-old mare, 'Moonie' (Blue Moon), stood proudly in remembrance of the huge contribution made by horses during the first and second World Wars. Lynette says she became aware of their moving story after visiting a memorial in Waiouru to a New Zealand war horse named Bess. "During World War I, New Zealand sent 10,238 horses into battle and of those only four returned home after the war ended. Bess was one of the four," Lynette explains. "They were
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the soldiers' best friends and endured terrible conditions on the way to battle in Palestine and Egypt with the Mounted Rifles. "On the battlefield, the horses were expected to lie down while soldiers leant against them, firing rifles across their backs. And at the end of the war, because quarantine regulations made it almost impossible to bring them home, many were abandoned or killed by their soldiers who couldn't face leaving them to a cruel future." Lynette wore a slouch hat similar to the ones worn by the Mounted Rifles and Moonie stood like a rock throughout the service, even when the bugle sounded, "although her ears did go forward a bit," says Lynette.
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Above: Lynette and Moonie representing New Zealand's war horses on ANZAC Day
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