Mick Batchelor and his Light Horse troop shining light on animal war history

Mick Batchelor and his Light Horse troop are making their way up the Territory showcasing the history of the men – and animals – that served, but the history of his own crew is just as interesting.

Mick Batchelor and his crew of Light Horsemen have been travelling the country sharing the history of the Light Horse Brigade, but the tale of how his own animals came together is almost as interesting.

Dressed in the marching out kit of Light Horse riders of World War I, Mr Batchelor points out various aspects of his own get-up and its functionality, before trailing on to his horses, mules and donkeys attire – including a vibrant purple poppy tucked behind his donkey Rodney’s ear.

“On Remembrance Day you have your red poppy, well the purple poppy is for animals, and they have a Remembrance Day too on February 26, it’s only been going a few years,” he said.

His eyes light up when asked why he thought animals needed their own date.

“Oh I think when you take into account the amount of animals that were used in the war, and what survived, see Australia in World War I sent 160,000 horses overseas, that’s not counting donkeys or mules as well, and only one horse ever came back, they sacrificed so much.”

Mick Batchelor, flanked by Riverina Light Horsemen and women Mick Davies, Deb Chaney and Jeannie Batchelor. Picture: Laura Hooper.

Mr Batchelor and his crew of Light Horse troopers from Riverina, NSW are making the journey up through the Territory showcasing the history of the Australian Light Horse and the men and animals that served.

Having just finished at the Alice Springs Show, they’re taking their display, which includes a technical ride presentation as well as unique demonstrations such as the “long forgotten art” of tent pegging, to Katherine, Darwin and then Harts Range.

It’s fitting for Mr Batchelor, with a large number of his animals being from the region – including his donkey Plonkey, which he met at a camel farm two years ago.

“He (the owner) wanted to give them away, he had them in a petting zoo, so he said ‘have these donkeys if you want’, so I took Plonkey and the other one because I couldn’t fit them all,” he said.

Mick Batchelor with his donkey Plonkey and dog Winnie, who re-enact the Horrie the Wog Dog story from World War I in demonstrations. Photo: Laura Hooper. Mick Batchelor story.

He had been told the donkey was raised by a vet in Alice Springs as an orphan before being donated to the petting zoo, and sure enough at the recent Alice Springs Show he ran into Plonkey’s original owner.

“It turns out when the vet found the donkey, it had been mauled by dogs and torn about real badly so she took it back to Alice Springs and did all this work out of the kindness of her heart to repair it,” he said.

“And then she was attacked by dogs a second time at the back of the vets yard, so she’s been twice lucky.

“So she’s been down home and broken in and she’s got a little buggy and the dog rides on her and stuff and she’s back up here running into people she knows.”

Mick Batchelor leads his crew of donkeys and mules on his horse Wally. Photo: Laura Hooper.

Mr Batchelor’s re-enactment of the story of Horrie the War Dog – featuring his dog Winnie atop his best mate Plonkey – is a crowd favourite.

“She loves it, back at the Alice Springs Show we had a display set up and she just started howling and barking, she wanted to get up on Plonkey,” he laughed.

“So we put her on there and then she’s up there looking around, and then she went to sleep while sitting up.”

His horse Deets was also a rescue, albeit from the APY lands of South Australia.

“He was on his way to the knackery too so I got him and broke him in, so he’s the real deal, born in the bush,” he said.

As he leads his horse Wally, trailed by his mule and two donkeys, Mr Batchelor says the Light Horsemen don’t have any plans to return home quickly once their show circuit is up.

“We’ll probably come back here (Ooraminna Station) and then up to Uluru,” he said.

“We’re escaping the winter.”