Toska, a real warhorse

MY great-uncle Seweryn Kulesza (pictured) was a Polish cavalry officer who won eventing team silver at the Berlin Olympics in 1936 – despite falling off and remounting. The Germans won gold, and Seweryn told how the riders from every other nation fell in the water, while the Germans, on home ground, seemed to know of a ridge beneath the water and stayed upright.

Poignantly, Seweryn was reunited with Toska, the horse that carried him to the podium, against the Germans three years later – in battle. Toska was killed. Those early days of eventing really were a test of the military – riding genuine warhorses.

Seweryn Kulesza won team silver for Poland in the 1936 Berlin Olympics aboard Toska, then rode the horse in battle three years later