The Good Steed

The horse is an essential component of New Zealand's social, environmental, economic and military history. Yet despite this obvious truth, it is a topic which was been overlooked by New Zealand historiography. The horse's role throughout New Zealand's history has been identified by prominent environmental historians as an area in desperate need of examination; however, it is one yet to be undertaken. In an effort to start filling the gap in New Zealand's equine historiography, The Good Steed will use the late nineteenth and early twentieth century military context as a microcosm for the history of New Zealand's horse. This is an informed hypothesis of what New Zealand's military horse experienced in these two modern wars. In essence, history from the horse's point-of-view. The nature of war is awful in itself, but when animals are unconsciously included in the context, as horses were in these two modern wars, the impact of the experience is, as you will see, nothing less than horrific.