The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

David McNay · Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 10:35 pm Post subject: Ready Steady Gallop - Hamilton

I'm posting this here as it really doesn't classify as a war memorial although it is a tribute of sorts to horse in wartime.

Ready Steady Gallop is an art project running in Hamilton from June until September. Throughout the town are models of Clydesdale horses which have been painted by artists in a variety of styles. Smaller "ponies" have been painted by local schools.

One of the horses is title "WW1" and was created by Jayne Stokes.

The text on the horse reads "My horse has been decorated with World War 1 medals. When I read up on the history of the Clydesdale I had not realized that thousands of these horses had been conscripted for the war effort. This horse is a war hero, a symbol for all those involved in WW1".

More information on the project can be found here.

Another of the horses is titled "Cameron" and is decorated in the style of a Cameronian rifleman of 1812. Aptly enough he is located at Low Parks Museum where the Cameronians collection is located. I will get photos of "him" later.

One of the ponies has a slight WW1 style to it - it is called "Poppy" and is decorated with poppies.

There is also an "RAF" pony but I haven't seen that one yet.