Shoeing Smith Jacob Horner
Jacob Horner was born on 25 December 1896 at Ballyaltikilligan, Comber, County Down, the last of eight children of farmer Robert Horner and his wife Mary (née Herron). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Ballyaltikilligan with his parents, siblings, and four cousins, and working on the family farm.
Horner enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 3 November 1915 (No.1791 – later Corps of Hussars No.71561), probably with his cousin from Ballyaltikilligan, William Herron. (Note: Horner's Corps of Hussars number is the same as Herron's. This appears to have been a clerical error.)
He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp before embarking for France in 1916 or 1917, where he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st or 2nd North Irish Horse Regiments.
Horner fell ill, however, and was evacuated to the UK for treatment. On 11 December 1917 he was discharged, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). He was awarded a pension due to tuberculosis of the ankle, which was attributed to his military service – in May 1922 his level of disability was assessed at 50 per cent.
Following his discharge Horner returned to Ballyaltikilligan, where he became a successful sheep-breeder. On 30 December 1926 he married Alice Pritchard. He died on 24 April 1974.