It took four years to complete the memorial and over a year to prepare and create the War Horse Maquette. I committed myself totally to the project. This was no ordinary commission and I felt the responsibility . I began sketching but I understood that I needed to know more about WWl, reading and searching through thousands of images and by drawing more than 100 study sketches as well as writing a poem to tell the story of the War Horse. 

The War Horse Maquette incorporates pain and suffering, hardship and sorrow, emotions which I felt and used to create the maquette.

The silhouette of the Memorial is a dignified but pained, standing horse.  The body is weak, bones and ribs prominent, the middle tucked up and the muscles depleted caused by fatigue, lack of water and lack of fodder. The legs and joints are swollen due to harsh conditions. The horse’s weight is carried to one side relieving the pain of the shrapnel wound on its shoulder and the cuts on the legs. The coat is long and muddy, the tail and mane are cut in military style. The hooves and pasterns are cracked and barbed wire lies curled in the mud at foot.  Branded on one hoof is an identification number 1418. The ears are placed slightly backwards, not in anger but in thought.  The concerned forehead frowns slightly, eyes lowered and mournful, a tear forming in one eye.  The nostrils are soft and small, her mouth sad and wrinkled due to harsh bit and pain.

The position of the head is to suggest bowing in respect.