In World War One Australia and New Zealand shipped thousands of horses to the middle east.
When the fighting was over they were commanded to leave them behind… as the government “couldn’t afford to bring them back home.”.. As the troops had a low opinion of how the locals treated animals generally, most couldn’t bring themselves to leave the animals behind- especially after four years relying on the horse to survive. Check out The Broken Years- by Bill Gammage for the story. There’s a kiwi version of the story also but i can’t locate my book at this stage…..
Based on the poem by Trooper Bluegum