Watch on a hoof of the horse owned by General Sir Hubert Gough – £2400 at Mallams.
By the end of the First World War it has been estimated that over eight million horses had died. Britain alone had lost 484,000 horses – overwhelmingly not charging at the enemy any more but as transport animals – due to conditions ranging from exhaustion and drowning to shellfire.
A reminder of this came at Mallams’ (25% buyer’s premium) auction on January 11 in Cheltenham when a silver-plated pocket watch on a taxidermy horse’s hoof stand or holder, 8in (20cm) high overall, was estimated at £100-200 in a Country House Sale.