As a horse fancier I wanted to express my sadness at the loss of a particular breed of horse that had been in existence since Roman times.

Bred specifically as a Roman chariot horse, when Rome invaded Europe the nobles of Europe adopted this horse as their carriage horse and as a nice quiet horse for the ladies. The Romans selected very easily tamed mountain ponies that were sturdy and willingly obedient. They used Welsh mountain ponies, the Caspian horse and also the Spanish and Iberian barb horses as the original foundation breeds to create this Roman Cart Horse.

The breed was lost when the Germans bombed the last remaining stud farm in Pembrokeshire, England, which is why it’s also called the Pembrokeshire Cart Horse. Horse fanciers are attempting to recreate the little horse by crossing foundation mares and stallions from the original breeds.