Nearly 9-million horses died at the front in World War One, many from Nobel's gift to the world, and many from exhaustion, drowning in flooded shell craters and disease. So a horse's lot isn't always a happy one. I once had a racehorse who ran over hurdles and fences at the lesser tracks in the Midlands, and although he never won any of his 104 races he even had his own fan club.You'd have thought that would be a heavy workload for a racehorse with no talent but he thoroughly enjoyed himself, sometimes running in the opposite direction to the other horses just for a laugh and to kid them into thinking they were running the wrong way, and sometimes when he fell he'd stay down for a bite of grass and a nap. Once, at Market Rasen, he gave a cat that had strayed onto the course a good kick up the arse and sent it flying back over the rails for its impertinence.When the old boy died in his sleep I swear he had a smile on his face just for me. I had this wonderful friend stuffed, and he now graces a big glass display case in the ballroom of my house in Portofino.
Roger Talbot ● 1646d