An amazing true story of a horse.

You all know that I LOVE HORSES! So much so that when Secretariat came out my grandson Jonathon went to it and called me immediately on the phone to tell be about it. He was 6 at the time and knew I would love to hear about it. This is an email that I received about the new movie "War Horse" which will be out in December. I loved it. It truly is remarkable that an animal would have that much heart and compassion to do what she did. Please read it and let me know what you think.

In light of the movie War Horse which is coming out Christmas, I thought you all would appreciate reading about this War Horse Hero named Reckless. What a story-and true. She was an amazing little horse!
This horse is a hero . . . don't know if you have seen this, but it is truly amazing

This horse was a pack horse during the Korean War; she carried recoilless rifles, ammunition and supplies to Marines. Nothing too unusual about that, lots of animals got pressed into doing pack chores in many wars.

But this horse did something more . . . during the battle for a location called Outpost Vegas, this mare made fifty one (51) trips up and down the hill—on the way up she carried ammunition and on the way down she carried wounded Marines.

What was so amazing?

She made every one (1) of those trips without anyone leading her.

I can't imagine a horse carrying a wounded Marine, being smacked on the rump at the top of the hill and heading back to the "safety" of the rear. But to imagine the same horse, loaded with ammunition and trudging back to the battle where artillery is going off, without anyone leading her is unbelievable.

To know that she would make fifty one (51) of those trips is unheard of. Hell, how many horses would even make it back to the barn once, let alone return to you in the field one (1) single time.

So here is a clip of her story and photos to prove where she was and what she did .
. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIo3ZfA9da0

She was retired to the Marine Corps Base @ Camp Pendleton, California where a General issued the following order . . . she was never to carry any more weight on her back except her own blankets. She died in 1968 at the age of twenty (20).

P.S.: Just how bad was the battle for Outpost Vegas? Artillery rounds impacted at the rate of five hundred (500) per hour and only two (2) men made it out alive without wounds—just two (2) . . . and a horse and she was wounded twice.