This statement might be about horses, but the same could also be said for the men at war. Many of them came from peaceful jobs—fruit selling, anyone?—and they've been forced to become soldiers.

Joey observes that the two sides of the war, the English and the German, are basically the same. Both sides have good people and bad people and people that really, really, love horses. It's not personal, it's business.

Joey's duties change throughout the course of the book, but each time he takes them up without hesitation. Even if he could question them, we doubt he would. He's the perfect soldier—for better or worse.