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An Angry Horse

Heroes Remember

Transcript
The horse I had was an adventure in itself and this was a cow pony. t was a beautiful horse to ride except that he didn't want anybody on his back and you couldn't get on his back. He'd come up on his hind legs and he'd broken three guys' nose, they didn't tell me that before they gave me the horse and he came up and his front paws just came down like that and hit my over, my top coat but he didn't get my face. Two or three guys sitting around and I said, “How the hell do I get on this horse?” And one thing and another and they finally showed me the trick. You had to shove his head around to the far side, you got on from the left side, you had to shove him around to the far side and pull him there and hold him there and he couldn't then go up in the air, you see and then when you got on the horse and you gotta let his lines loose, then he'd try to get rid of ya. He'd jump and buck and kick for a minute or two and then he would finally give up that and he would become, he became a very good horse indeed. He was easy to ride and easy to handle and everything but I never got on that horse without a battle.
Description

Mr. Burton discusses being given a horse with three former riders' broken noses to its credit. He's told the secret of mounting the obstinate horse, and finds it to be a very good mount once he's safely in the saddle.

Robert Burton

Robert Burton was born on February 21, 1896 in Dundas, Ontario. After public school, he was accepted into university which he attended from 1914 to 1916, in the Canadian Officer Training Corps. For a time, he worked at Massey, checking shrapnel shells. Despite being shortsighted, Mr. Burton was recruited into the 13th Brigade in Mar, 1916. In England, he joined the 5th Division, a reinforcement unit, and deployed to France with the 2nd Division as a sapper. Mr. Burton became a mounted courier at Courcelette, and had several interesting experiences in that capacity. He witnessed and was attacked by Gotha bombers at Arras, and was shelled at St.Pol. Mr. Burton also served in the trenches at Amiens. During the 2nd World War, he was a very successful engineering instructor at camp Petawawa, where he attained the rank of Major.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
1:24
Person Interviewed:
Robert Burton
War, Conflict or Mission:
First World War
Battle/Campaign:
Arras
Branch:
Army
Units/Ship:
2nd Division (Special Force)
Rank:
Private
Occupation:
Sapper

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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