One month on from the unveiling of a statue of Sandy the warhorse, Elaine Brogan from Sunbury has released a book commemorating the only horse to come home from WW1.
Donated to the war effort by the O’Donnell family, Sandy caught the eye of major general William Bridges who chose Sandy as his favourite horse. It was the major general’s dying wish to be reunited with his horse.
Sandy returned to Melbourne and became ill in 1923. A pair of taxidermists decided that only his head would be saved.
In May that year, Sandy was humanely euthanized and the taxidermists got to work. Sandy’s skeleton was buried at the Maribyrnong Army Depot.
On Saturday, May 20, 100 years on from his death, a life-sized bronze statue of Sandy was unveiled in Tallangatta where he was born.
Ms Brogan has written a book to honour Sanday called Minus His Head and Hooves.
“I have a deep love for animals and horses and I want to be their voice and tell their stories,” she said.
“The men and women in the war did it hard but so did the horses, Sandy came back and represents all of those horses.”
To obtain a copy of the book phone 0437 126 761.
