I just find this quote interesting – horses used to be much more respected and appreciated. After the Battle of Waterloo some survivor horses were brought to retirement and the king’s surgeon saw this:
“One morning…the surgeon saw the 12 horses form a line, shoulder to shoulder, then, without a cue, charge forward at a gallop. After a few strides they spun and retreated as formally as in a drill.” Each day, he watched as “his old cavalry horses, flecked white where their coats had grown back over their scars, enacted this enigmatic ritual and went to war together once more in the cool green parkland of the Home Counties.”
From the Economist article about 2 horse books which is an interesting read as well. We toss many a thing off. The article even gets a quick in if, with AI/robots, we’re now making ourselves as obsolete as we made horses.