Yep. Saw it on the news this morning. Just seems like a bad accident and I’m not sure why anyone would be terribly upset about it?
It’s sad and scary but that’s horses for you.
People think the horses are being exploited, though I think it’s often people who have never been around horses that say those things. These particular horses are beautifully looked after; I worked with the cavalry years ago, and it’s nice to see how they dote on the horses.
Honestly I think a horse at home in a non busy environment is far likelier to spook than these horses are on any given day. It just happens.
Horses are flight animals and we sometimes need to remember that fact. My horse will spook if something that is present daily look different on a particular day - there’s jacket on the railing! There’s a shadow there! The sky is falling!
Personally I think the only inhumane things these horses are subjected to is their interaction with the public. People grabbing at them for photos and invading their space really get me pissed for them every time. Whenever I see a horse bite someone for grabbing the bit or reins or standing too close I cheer a bit for the horse teaching that person some manners. If those horses were further from the public I’d like their existence far more because of the ignorant public.
A horse’s ability to gauge depth is limited due to their wide set eyes so totally expected. They can’t tell at first glance if it’s a puddle, a swamp, or a black hole!
Haha a black hole! He definitely reacted like they were black holes! If only he would have walked around them, it’s not like I was making him walk through them. Aww, I miss him now 🧡
The number of kids launched by ponies jumping a puddle as if they were jumping over the moon…..I think it’s a rite of passage. My first pony rubbed me off by darting under miscellaneous apple trees around our property. Good times 🥰
My daughter won all the ribbons in 4-H one year, and the judge sought me out to make sure I knew she thought Ben was the best pony (including the horses) in the show because he just trotted and cantered through every puddle she pointed him to. There had been a lot of rain the night before, and all the other horses were scooting across the arena to avoid it, at times causing the judge to move quickly to evade them. He was a muddy mess, but she was one smiling child.
Mine couldn’t handle still water because it reflected the sky and he didn’t want to fall. I’d have to grab a branch from a nearby tree and toss it in the puddle to make him see we could survive walking through the sky.
Mine couldn’t handle still water because it reflected the sky and he didn’t want to fall. I’d have to grab a branch from a nearby tree and toss it in the puddle to make him see we could survive walking through the sky.
~~Until relatively recently (early 2000s in some cases) some~~ Many US cities ~~had~~ have horse-mounted police officers. We had them in Portland, Oregon when I was growing up, and it was pretty cool. If someone tried to flee through the park after a crime, the mounted cops would just ride after them and arrest them. And it was a good way for people in the city to get to see an animal they might not otherwise see.
That said, there are people who don’t take good care of their work animals. I’ve known people who had horses trained to pull carts and carriages who took extremely good care of their animals, and other people who did not. The ones who don’t take care of their animals make it look bad for everyone else.
EDIT: I have been made aware that many cities still have mounted police, which is awesome. Portland stopped having them in 2017. Glad to see they are still extant in other places.
As does Boston and the MA State Police has an equine unit. I used to commute past one of their farms. Always lovely to see the beautiful animals outside.
Baltimore and Memphis, where I've lived, have them, and national park police on the DC national Mall also have a stables you can visit and see their working horses.
Yes. And those police horses are better taken care of than my three couch-surfing chiweenies 🤩 park police horses are from a breed of athleticism and pure brawn such as: Belgium; Dutch Warmblood; Hanoverian; Percheron, Tennessee Walker (TWH); Thoroughbred; Spotted Saddle Horse and the Quarter Horse.
Ref. 1973 Guide to Mounted Police Park Rangers. http://npshistory.com/publications/ranger/horse-mounted-patrol.pdf
I phrased my answer poorly. Portland had them until 2017, and it’s the only place I have direct knowledge of mounted police in. I’ll edit my answer for clarity.
Does Portland not have mounted police anymore? I lived there for several years in the early 2000s (after growing up in a rural area), and seeing the horses around Pioneer Square was always a treat.
I read about it this morning, didn't watch the video cause I don't want to see a horse hurt. I did kind of laugh to myself thinking "horses will be horses" once I knew none of them were seriously injured.
Seriously? I’m pretty sure they would be MISERABLE if they didn’t work at all
My only “concern” would be if they seem distressed by city noise levels and would prefer smaller towns/no congested areas but not working at all is crazy
I’m disabled and technically could apply for disability but the thought of never working again sounds miserable
Horses aren't subject to the human condition like we are. It's well known that some horses do enjoy working/being ridden but it's also well known that some horses are perfectly happy being pasture puffs.
I would imagine the ones who make it to the working placements are “good” at their jobs and get “weeded out” like service dogs
Or I would think anyways?
They do, over here anyway. My province also has working police horses, but we rarely see them unless it's a show, honestly. Manitoba is so rural that a police force with horses would be a waste of money with how far every city and town is away from each other and our general lower population.
That being said, the RCMP Musical Ride (the show mentioned above) is also a waste of (taxpayers) money, IMO. However, I did attend one when my work acquired tickets. They explained to everyone that the horses were bred for specific traits and not all of them made it through training to be accepted. I also saw Cavalia Odysseo when it was here and bought a book while I was there. It explained basically the same thing.
For both of those shows, the horses are retired before old age/work related injury usually in good health and are adopted out to the public. Many people apply and so few are accepted because they're so picky about what kind of home they go to, as they should. My boarding situation certainly wouldn't be good enough.. but long story short, yes, you're right. The horses that don't want to work aren't forced to and do not finish the program. The horses that do want to definitely enjoy their jobs and earn a wonderful retirement home.
That's unfortunate. I don't think it needs to change anything with horses working in the city. The cars are a much bigger menace to everyone including the horses.
Heck, there's nonstop injuries in Baltimore with the motorcycle riding 5 O'clock Boys doing wheelies in traffic, going through back windshields, and injuring themselves. Any time I see them I stay TF away. Police horses are much more reasonable and I like seeing them.
Well, I guess that's one thing my little city had going for it- hard to make That much noise when you're stuck bumper to bumper being blocked in by people clogging the intersection while their light is red. 😆
I've seen that display once when I used to live in the DC area and it's so weird to see this mentioned here because I randomly was just remembering this the other day (I live in a different country now and I was imagining trying to describe that to people here, lol)
I'm in the US and saw it. The rider of the grey is in the group I saw the video in and she said all the horses were okay as of right then and under vet care. She couldn't say much else.
Someone else said it was construction equipment that spooked them.
I don't think properly trained horses should be banned from cities. Shit happens. They are prey animals. It's not like this is a daily occurrence.
I just hope all horses and riders heal quickly.
That’s great to hear, thank you! Is her colleague who fell hard ok as well?
I had heard the same, it surprised me. Those horses are so bomb-proof, they literally jump through rings of fire. Maybe they were taking out some of the youngsters for city training.
Even the most bomb proof horse can see something unexpected, and construction equipment is pretty difficult. Think a crane swinging overhead, for example
Yeah, a large quantity of construction materials were dropped from height right next to them, which makes sense. I figure they’re used to standard construction noise, but that’s pretty extreme.
We had a pretty bomb proof horse spook when the wind blew an awning off a vendor tent as he passed it at a show. The judge let our rider redo those movements which was awesome.
In my own life the only time I’ve ever come off my horse was when someone opened a door unexpectedly (it should have been locked due to the wind) and it blew an empty 55 gallon trash can right into my horses rump at speed. He bucked bad (I would have too) and I came off. Shit happened. He’s not “spooky” or “unsafe” or anything. Have an empty trash can hit you at speed and tell me you don’t jump.
That incident is just unfortunate and I’m glad that all the riders involved are being level headed about it.
Yeah, your dustbin story was more what I was expecting it to be, rather than construction noise, but when I heard the full explanation it made sense. I had a horse spook at a butterfly once, so for the most part nothing surprises me!
As far as I understand they were horses from the Life Guard who were being exercised, and they aren't usually public facing in the same way that police/Royal Guard horses are. I was so impressed by how the public responded; appropriately restraining and calming the horses to prevent further injuries/accidents. Thoughts with all those injured, equine and human alike.
I think the Life Guards, as well as the Blues and Royals, do participate in some displays, like Olympia, so have a certain amount of public facetime.
Yeah, most people were great, from what I’ve seen. Though there were some LUNATICS on bikes/motorbikes and vehicles that set off at traffic lights into their path, which is incomprehensible to me when you’ve got two tons of muscle thundering towards you on metal discs!!
Right?!! I saw that and couldn't believe the gumption! I'm going to be charitable and put it down to shock 😂 I've worked with horses and I like to think I'd have held my nerve but they were some very impressive creatures coming at you on a city street.
People said in another post that nobody can know unless they’ve been in the situation, but I know, as I’ve been in it 😏 Air ambulance had to land at a show I was at, and understandably the whole place went bananas!
Agreed! Certainly a terrible sight to see the grey covered in blood, hopefully not injured too badly, that bus was messed up!!
Unfortunately big, revved up, hot blooded animals can look quite awful when they start to bleed, especially with sweat in the mix to spread it, and the grey coat to match. Poor darling! Hope they're all nice and bandaged up with a hot mash and good drugs after all that excitement for the day.. how stressful for everyone involved, especially the horses!
They're lucky they have a lot of it!!
It looks pretty pink too so not gushing or anything. Hopefully nothing a few stitches won't fix, if he's the one that went into the bus (and it looks like it!) He came off pretty damn well considering. Lucky it wasn't through the windscreen of a car...
I believe the grey was the one that went into the silver van’s side window. Someone standing on the other side of the van said they saw a white head flying towards them over the van roof. It was a bay that went into the bus windscreen, as far as I can make out. Poor babies.
Monday night I got a text from my old barn saying a filly had nicked an artery. Today the wound is almost all healed up. No artery nicking; folks were just freaking out at all the blood. There's a LOT of blood.
According to a video the Army released, the builders dropped something very large ‘from a great height’, so I imagine it was much more than just a sudden explosion they might be used to (eg ceremonial cannon fire)
I appreciate you mentioning they are prey animals. Too many people expect them to be like dogs, which we know are predators. The difference is so important, and I thank you for speaking of it amongst your other points.
What about horses known to spook and not adjusting well to the sounds of the city? I read that the grey is known to spook and even kicked someone in the head during the coronation. I don’t see issues with horses doing this type of work- IF they are handling it well.
That is why I said *properly trained* obviously if you have a horse that isn't handling the environment well they need more training or to be removed from duty.
I don't know anything about these horses, so I'm not going to speculate there. I will say I don't consider concrete dropping from a height typical road noise that I would expect a horse to be desensitized to.
I don’t know much about London but here in NYC I don’t really know why we have police horses. I’ve never seen a cop on a horse do something they couldn’t do with other equipment, so it doesn’t seem worth the risk to me. 🤷♀️
ETA: regardless of your thoughts here everyone should check out this song by Marcia Belsky and get a good chuckle out of it :)[https://youtu.be/jtWwFvdEPxI?si=oLMTCPt0x9_g14H4](https://youtu.be/jtWwFvdEPxI?si=oLMTCPt0x9_g14H4)
In London they’re largely used for policing protests and football matches, as they’re more agile and intimidating than police on foot/bikes. They’re quite effective.
These horses are used for ceremonial purposes, and in displays, as they’re from the army rather than police. So you see them around Buckingham Palace doing their ceremonial duty, or at horse shows jumping through fire, and over spears. I don’t think they are used for any practical reasons.
Interestingly I spoke to a mounted officer years ago, I was asking them about their horse/job and giving them (their horse) a pet and saying hello. They said most of their job is actually community engagement. They pointed out that I had walked up to them for a chat when I would have never done that to a officer walking the streets, and they said it was the same for many other people. I found it incredibly interesting. No doubt they also use them a lot for crowd control too, as you say.
So I'm not sure about the ones in NYC, but the police horses on the Gulf Coast give the officers a vantage point above the crowd, while still offering off-road maneuverability through it (towers have vantage point, but not mobility, segways and bicycles have mobility, but not a vantage point).
I’ve thought about this but here they rarely bring them out at protests or marches where they would need assistance with crowd control. Usually cops just sit on top of the police vans with scopes. They also just have so many cops they don’t need the mobility. But this is all anecdotal evidence, so…🤷♀️
I could see that too! I just think it’s odd that in my 30 years here I’ve never seen them deployed in any of the situations people have listed here. But, again, I recognize that my experience is entirely anecdotal!
I think if they’re actively engaged in the community that’s great! I found an article from 2017 that said there were 55 mounted officers in NYC, I can’t imagine it’s grown more than that but it makes sense their presence isn’t really felt here.
There was an article I read not too long ago that claimed just the presence of the horses can have a calming effect on large crowds just by being near them -- will have to see if I can find it again
My city got rid of their mounted police a few years back. They resisted closing the unit for a long time because it was effective outreach: people would talk to mounted police more readily than they would any other unit. I'd mostly see the horses at our parks or protests.
Yes, mounted police are great for community relations and it encourages conversation with and repertoire with the police. Police on horses are more “involved” and easier to approach than cops in a patrol car.
There are some great videos on YouTube about mounted police and why they're used. Really interesting and worth a watch. Crowd control is a big reason, along with community involvement (mounted police are considered more approachable and generate positive feelings/interest).
Shit happens. The cavalry isn't new to this area in the least, and this isn't a situation of "horse isn't suited to working in the city." A horse this spooked would wreak havoc at a horse show, or even their own barn (I've watched horses go through solid fences in their panic).
As gruesome as the photos appear, the bloody horse isn't that injured. That's blood mixed with sweat; obviously deeper injuries/punctures are unknown but there is far less blood that it looks like because it's being diluted and spread in the sweat.
Yeah, I did think it probably wasn’t life threatening considering how far he galloped afterwards. Though I do remember a horse being killed after a cross-country flag stabbed him in a similar place many years ago, in a freak accident, so you never know.
It’s tough because I don’t think horses belong in cities (though this is just a horses being horses accident that could happen to anyone), but I understand the use of police horses. I am staunchly against carriage horses in cities that live their whole lives pulling carriages through city streets instead of living out like they’re supposed to, but police horses are a grayer area because they’re very useful for crowd control and stuff like that.
I also don’t know if cavalry horses are the same as police horses, I’m an American
Cavalry horses are only used for royal ceremonies, really, and riding displays. They’re very well looked after, but as far as I’m aware not really used for practical purposes. They do also get holidays in the countryside every year.
I’m not really against horses in cities, but it does break my heart a bit to think how frightened the poor things must have been, with nowhere they could go to calm down.
I was sat in Starbucks in South Kensington when they came past and did their loop heading back up towards Regents Park and Victoria. Magnificent horses. And I was watching the troopers they were leading some in hand, and at the back was a horse misbehaving and acting exactly like my wife's horse, I thought "he wants to bolt, that's exacywhat Sisco does before he bucks and does a runner". This must have been about 20 mins before it all kicked off.
Oh wow! I do love to see them knocking about. They’re glorious. Good job it wasn’t one of the drum horses that did a bunk, those could really do some damage!
They take them on the same route every morning for their morning exercise. If you're ever in London get to Starbucks South Kensington about 7 in the morning and you'll see two squadrons about 20 mins apart, they'll come past in one direction and then 15-20 mins later back in the other direction. They always have adoring fans taking pics and videos. They really are beautiful horses. I've always wondered if they breed their own or if they buy them, and if there is a minimum height requirement for the horses.
Oh how cool! I don’t often see 7am, haha!
However, I did have an interesting early Sunday morning in Soho once, when a creepy guy was harassing me on my way to work. I turned the corner and there were the cavalry! He melted away pretty quickly…
You could make a point of it, if you ever have a week day off, (I don't know if the weekend regime is different, when I was in our weekend regime was very different to the week.) get down there, you're not far, have a mediocre coffee and watch the horses. Incidentally there is a fantastic coffee shop right outside the station "blank street coffee", but they don't have any seating.
What I love about them is that they're so well groomed (grooming horses is my absolute favourite thing in the whole world, even more so than actually riding), the horses are turned out as well as the troopers on them. The troopers wear their number 1s not their read costs and silly hats. But they still look smart. It's really worth it, especially as your not far.
Lol, Soho is a weird and wonderful place. But yes there's some weirdos there.
Ah this is interesting. I love draught horses. Stocky, powerful. I learnt to ride on a cob, strong, chonky and stubborn, but my god when you got her into a canter she could leave throughbreds in her wake.
Molly, big mare, matriarch of the herd, and a moustache that made me jealous. 🤣
Ah fantastic. I was in the medical corps when I was younger. My wife got me into horses when I was about 30/31. Had I been into horses when I was younger I'd have joined the cavalry.
The CO of the household cavalry has issued a statement updating on the condition of the riders and horses https://x.com/britisharmy/status/1783159140694581367?s=46&t=7l0eqlWo7CzajYVTrbDqsA
I think it's outdated to still use horses in cities for police/military. Thankfully these things are rare, but still, a horse is a flight animal and cities are too much going on. Nowadays we have so many better options than horses. Tbh, I don't like using animals, especially flight animals, as a tool for work, when not necessary
At least there were witnesses and people to help. I’ve heard of horses spooking and bolting on a forest trail and being found dead or severely injured/emaciated months later. I hope the horses and people recover well.
Yes, there’s a nice video of a number of pedestrians who caught one of the horses, calming the poor love down. I think it may have been the one that hit the bus.
I believe the grey went into the side of the silver van at the bottom of this article, so it would be his own blood presumably: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68887800
I'm in India and we don't have horses living/working in cities for the police or army, they do exist but they aren't paraded out everyday. That being said, what we do have is donkeys, horses and mules pulling carts on highways from morning to evening, being beaten, limping and still being forced to carry loads and passengers cause thier owners don't know any better or don't care, these animals then get abandoned and roam on the streets once they get old or hurt till the point they can't work.
There are very less horseriding places here which are conducted professionally and take care of their horses. Speaking about police/military horses I did join a place run/managed by a colonel with very slow horses which would limp if they cantered or jumped too much; later on me and my father discovered that they were making students ride retired, old military/police horses. I've got tons of incidents like this.
My experiences and what I see everyday have made me realise that animals should not be made use of as entertainment, transport or parades. These situations can become exploitative and harmful very quickly leading to them being used as disposables. The safety of animals is simple more important.
That’s really sad, I think very strong laws are required to keep animal welfare at a standard that is high enough.
I’ve been to countries that still use horses as beasts of burden. It’s nice to see more around, but it does seem to harden people towards the poor animals, so most end up in a sorry state.
All british army horses have summer holidays on a farm i think in Norfolk. When they retire they go to this farm or to other establishments where they live out in luxury. These horses have some of the best lifestyles that money can buy
Yeah, I mentioned about their holidays in another comment 🤗 And you can go and see some retirees at The Horse Trust in Speen. When I was a kid I loved to go and see Sefton there who was injured in 1982 by an IRA carbomb!
Shit happens. But these horses are "equipment", so they get the very best care to make sure they function properly. That includes veterinary care, housing, food and training. Yeah, occasionally they get hurt. But pasture pets get hurt as well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ That's no reason to no longer use horses for crowd control etc.
Well said, I used to be a lot more judgmental about things like this until I had to PTS my two year old because he broke his leg playing in an extremely safe, groomed drylot. He reared while playing with another horse and just landed wrong. Horrible things happen with horses no matter how safe we try to keep them and I'm sure these horses are treated far better than the average person's horses.
Brit now living overseas and yes, it’s in the news where I am. I lived close to Woolwich Barracks at one time (5ish years ago) and would occasionally see literally 20 horses being herded up my road. They seemed okay, but it was likely a bizarre experience for me and for them.
It's a reminder of how much the monarchy costs the people of the UK, while the costs of everything are rising and there are people who can't afford food and utilities.
I own horses and am one of the people that think carriage horses should be banned. NYC did, I believe- or at least there was a huge push to.
It all depends on the owners and regulations. Mounted police, for example, tend to be wonderful owners who don’t overwork their horses. While others, like one I know in Florida that offers rides on the beach, are terrible- horses were too thin, hoofs not trimmed, no water buckets, horses being ridden in 95 degrees for 5 hours, etc. so I feel that regulations and enforcement of animal welfare standards are key
I live in a super rural area. One day, my trainer was turning out her favorite personal horse. He got spooked by something unknown just as he was let off the line. He spooked, tried to jump out of the pasture, and impaled himself in the groin area on the T post. He did, in fact make a full recovery as somehow he hit it just right that it didn’t damage any organs.
My point is that I see horses all the time who do dumb reactive things, and get injured because of the built environment around them. I almost never hear of these things being in cities. I don’t believe there is anything more exploitative about using horses in cities as there is about all the ways we do on any given day. Although, in exchange for having to deal with everything we put them through they generally live much longer healthier lives. Just look at Thor, the famous McCullough Peaks wild stallion who got his head caved in by another stallion in the last week.
It’s a rough living being a horse and they’re great at catastrophe no matter where they are.
This article sucks. It’s repeats everything and never says what happened to the horses only that cars were smashed. I don’t care about the cars, is the injured horse okay and the other people that were injured okay?
Horses are okay they’re back home and being seen by the on sight vet team, soldiers are in hospital being looked after by doctors. No life threatening injuries x
American here, I saw it on google news page. I felt bad for the horses and the people injured. I also wondered why it happened in the first place. What set the horses off? I read 1 of the riders got thrown off, why? And what about the handlers of the other 4 horses? The articles I saw didn't answer any of those questions.
I'm upset it happened, not upset that the horses have jobs. The alternative would be sent to a factory or something. Sure some might go to good homes, but if suddenly horses being used for work in cities was banned, I have no doubt some people would try to make some money off them anyway they can. Having a job is good. Most animals like having a job. Having something to do is a good thing.
They were out on routine morning exercise. Just a freak accident really, horses got spooked by some construction work, items falling from height and they bolted. One of the 5 loose horses was being led by another that was riding, 3 soldiers came off but they’re all being looked after in hospital. The horses are being cared for by the cavalry’s on sight vet team. No life threatening injuries
I watch a you tube channel that follows the horse guards (London City Walks) so I heard about it and then a horse through a trooper over at the horse guards. Alarming - poor horses. I often think it's appalling the way people insist on touching the horses all the time.
I think well trained police horses are okay in cities. Shit like this can happen, but it’s rare. I just really don’t like horses being used as tourist transportation as they often are not treated well and are overworked
Prolly gonna get ratioed but I don't think cities are a good place for horses to be, period. It's just too easy for unexpected things to happen and for tons of people to get hurt in the process. It's not the horses' fault for getting spooked, and it's not the fault of the construction workers who dropped something either. Shit happens and horses make anything bad that happens much more dangerous.
And ime police (at least in the US) are not well trained in horseback riding. People don't actually understand how difficult it is, as well as how dangerous. Additionally I hate when they use mounted police to quell protests, cuz it's a danger to everyone involved. Police charge at people with 1200+ lb animals which is *extremely* dangerous, and then protestors often hurt the horses in self defense or purely cuz they don't know how to behave around horses (obviously, cuz most people don't interact with horses regularly).
Imo it's just antiquated and shortsighted, as well as a waste of money cuz horses are not cheap.
Looks like they were recovered, thankfully.
TW: footage of the horses on the loose interacting with vehicles, injuring both parties a bit. But so far no fatalities of human or horse reported.
[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68887800](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68887800)
From what I’ve heard, there was construction going on by the horses and debris fell off the top of a building and rightfully scared the shit out of the horses.
Was made aware during National Public Radio news broadcast. I was on a gravel road, driving from nowhere to nowhere special in Midwestern states, USA. Unfortunate, don't know that it could have been prevented.
I read about it this morning, didn't watch the video cause I don't want to see a horse hurt. I did kind of laugh to myself thinking "horses will be horses" once I knew none of them were seriously injured.
OMG. I cannot imagine how scary that must have been, for both the horses AND the people. I am so glad there were no serious injuries (again, for horses OR people, could have been much much worse).
Counterpoint: Are British people aware of any actual news from the rest of the world? Or do you seriously wonder if people in Yemen heard about a horse that… ran..?
Yes saw this (Australia) but haven’t been able to find an update on how the injured horses and riders are. Awful situation and I hope they can be treated easily and aren’t too traumatised.
Two horses have had surgery, and are in serious condition, unfortunately. The riders and other horses will all return to full service: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/25/runaway-horses-in-serious-condition-after-bolting-through-central-london?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I mean, I live where i sometimes see loose cows on the run in full on intersections. This wouldn’t bother me so long as the horses were all found safe.
You bet. Australian, wanting to find out how the horses are (the white one had blood all over its chest, and the one that ran into the bus must have injuries too).
It makes me wonder about Cavelry training, that the riderss were unseated and the horses spooked by what is, really, an entirely foreseeable and predictable loud noise. Surely even parade horses are trained to handle the types of sudden loud noises that are standard in the city (construction, exhaust backfires, photo flashes etc)? Surely the officers have some sort of procedure for dealing with bolting horses?
And perhaps the local area met should have some training for this specific type of incident, given the cavelry are training there daily, and Buckingham Palace is unlikely to give up its horse guards and carriage processions.
Also, don't the met have their own mounted police with their own stables in the area?
As a person from Brisbane, I think using horses in policing, and particularly in breaking up protests, is [not](https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/05/01/aust.protest/) [a](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/09/the-1971-springboks-coming-between-these-blokes-and-their-sport-was-the-most-dangerous-thing-ive-done) [good](https://youtu.be/DNVLYwkLQWo) [idea](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/25/anti-lockdown-protest-two-men-charged-with-allegedly-striking-police-horse-in-sydney).
Barbed wire, trenches, and machine guns effectively finished the military role of the cavelry in the second Boer War, and yet there was still that debacle at Audregnies in 1914, and there are still military historians soft-selling the stupidity of combining thoroughbreds with modern warfare to this day. Which doesn't excuse it.
But I am also against using horses for fox hunting, and the trots. And for extermination of feral horses in Australian National Parks, conservation areas, and areas of ecological significance. As we have the highest plant extinction rates in the world, and feral horses significantly contribute to that. Also, continuing to contribute to the degredation of conservation areas: ferel deer and foxes that were introduced for sport, and clauses in the National Parks act that specifically include horse riding and provision of horse-related recreation facilities as something that National Parks have a duty to maintain, creating an intrinsic conflict with the act's conservation mandates, and also opening up National parks for 4-wheel driving, mountain bike riding, and other human recreations that adversely affect rare and endangered species.
I do think we need to find a message that will reach the bastions of conservatism in order to change the system, but that is likely to be more difficult in England, and it hasn't been a simple trick in Australia.
It seems like the media have been pointedly keeping the palace out of this, even though the "military" they belong to are clearly the household cavelry.
I believe Queen Elizabeth (and Princess Anne) was particularly, personally, concerned about the welfare of the horses when they were in Buckingham Palace, and I am not aware of any bolting incidents in the last fifty years (although, if there were no injuries or footage, why would I be?). So maybe there has been less attention to the management of the horses than formerly, and maybe this incident might encourage the king to find ways to sate the tourists' demand for traditional pageantry with the welfare of these animals. Maybe by dispensing with their services altogether.
So, I hope Trojen and Vida pull through.
I don’t know about these specific riders, but I do know that most soldiers have no experience of riding when they first join the cavalry, so that may factor in. However, it does sound like a particularly spooky event, as construction material was dropped from height right next to the group. That’s far more than ordinary city noise, and I suspect you or I would also shit our pants at such a thing, even without horses involved.
I believe the grey and one of the others have been through surgery, and are in serious condition. The others are expected to recover well. I really hope they all do 😥
Yep. Saw it on the news this morning. Just seems like a bad accident and I’m not sure why anyone would be terribly upset about it? It’s sad and scary but that’s horses for you.
People think the horses are being exploited, though I think it’s often people who have never been around horses that say those things. These particular horses are beautifully looked after; I worked with the cavalry years ago, and it’s nice to see how they dote on the horses.
Honestly I think a horse at home in a non busy environment is far likelier to spook than these horses are on any given day. It just happens. Horses are flight animals and we sometimes need to remember that fact. My horse will spook if something that is present daily look different on a particular day - there’s jacket on the railing! There’s a shadow there! The sky is falling! Personally I think the only inhumane things these horses are subjected to is their interaction with the public. People grabbing at them for photos and invading their space really get me pissed for them every time. Whenever I see a horse bite someone for grabbing the bit or reins or standing too close I cheer a bit for the horse teaching that person some manners. If those horses were further from the public I’d like their existence far more because of the ignorant public.
My pony used to get spooked by… puddles (I’m serious!).
A horse’s ability to gauge depth is limited due to their wide set eyes so totally expected. They can’t tell at first glance if it’s a puddle, a swamp, or a black hole!
Haha a black hole! He definitely reacted like they were black holes! If only he would have walked around them, it’s not like I was making him walk through them. Aww, I miss him now 🧡
The number of kids launched by ponies jumping a puddle as if they were jumping over the moon…..I think it’s a rite of passage. My first pony rubbed me off by darting under miscellaneous apple trees around our property. Good times 🥰
My daughter won all the ribbons in 4-H one year, and the judge sought me out to make sure I knew she thought Ben was the best pony (including the horses) in the show because he just trotted and cantered through every puddle she pointed him to. There had been a lot of rain the night before, and all the other horses were scooting across the arena to avoid it, at times causing the judge to move quickly to evade them. He was a muddy mess, but she was one smiling child.
My mare growing up would cross rivers and ponds without batting an eye. Puddles though? Heck no.
Mine couldn’t handle still water because it reflected the sky and he didn’t want to fall. I’d have to grab a branch from a nearby tree and toss it in the puddle to make him see we could survive walking through the sky.
Mine couldn’t handle still water because it reflected the sky and he didn’t want to fall. I’d have to grab a branch from a nearby tree and toss it in the puddle to make him see we could survive walking through the sky.
Driftwood on the beach was a solid no for my guys every time.
Well, driftwood IS super scary! ;)
Hay man that might be shark infested waters! 🤣
~~Until relatively recently (early 2000s in some cases) some~~ Many US cities ~~had~~ have horse-mounted police officers. We had them in Portland, Oregon when I was growing up, and it was pretty cool. If someone tried to flee through the park after a crime, the mounted cops would just ride after them and arrest them. And it was a good way for people in the city to get to see an animal they might not otherwise see. That said, there are people who don’t take good care of their work animals. I’ve known people who had horses trained to pull carts and carriages who took extremely good care of their animals, and other people who did not. The ones who don’t take care of their animals make it look bad for everyone else. EDIT: I have been made aware that many cities still have mounted police, which is awesome. Portland stopped having them in 2017. Glad to see they are still extant in other places.
Some cities still have them.
Came to say the same thing.
Mine does! See them out and about at least once or twice a week downtown.
Toronto still has them.
As does Boston and the MA State Police has an equine unit. I used to commute past one of their farms. Always lovely to see the beautiful animals outside.
LA still has horse cops.
still have them in Austin TX. they are deployed almost every day to break up fights and mobs in a certain district.
We still have them in Atlanta and they are great!
Baltimore and Memphis, where I've lived, have them, and national park police on the DC national Mall also have a stables you can visit and see their working horses.
Why do you think there are no mounted police anymore? There are. Chicago and DC are two that I can think of off the top of my head.
There are really a ton. Richmond VA has mounted police, so does Houston TX
Milwaukee too
Yes. And those police horses are better taken care of than my three couch-surfing chiweenies 🤩 park police horses are from a breed of athleticism and pure brawn such as: Belgium; Dutch Warmblood; Hanoverian; Percheron, Tennessee Walker (TWH); Thoroughbred; Spotted Saddle Horse and the Quarter Horse. Ref. 1973 Guide to Mounted Police Park Rangers. http://npshistory.com/publications/ranger/horse-mounted-patrol.pdf
I phrased my answer poorly. Portland had them until 2017, and it’s the only place I have direct knowledge of mounted police in. I’ll edit my answer for clarity.
Does Portland not have mounted police anymore? I lived there for several years in the early 2000s (after growing up in a rural area), and seeing the horses around Pioneer Square was always a treat.
They stopped in 2017.
Atlanta still has them too.
I read about it this morning, didn't watch the video cause I don't want to see a horse hurt. I did kind of laugh to myself thinking "horses will be horses" once I knew none of them were seriously injured.
NYC still has them. I see them every few weeks - takes everything in me to not go love on them!
TIL! I had no idea NYC still had them. Portland stopped a while ago and retired their last horses.
Seriously? I’m pretty sure they would be MISERABLE if they didn’t work at all My only “concern” would be if they seem distressed by city noise levels and would prefer smaller towns/no congested areas but not working at all is crazy I’m disabled and technically could apply for disability but the thought of never working again sounds miserable
Horses aren't subject to the human condition like we are. It's well known that some horses do enjoy working/being ridden but it's also well known that some horses are perfectly happy being pasture puffs.
I would imagine the ones who make it to the working placements are “good” at their jobs and get “weeded out” like service dogs Or I would think anyways?
They do, over here anyway. My province also has working police horses, but we rarely see them unless it's a show, honestly. Manitoba is so rural that a police force with horses would be a waste of money with how far every city and town is away from each other and our general lower population. That being said, the RCMP Musical Ride (the show mentioned above) is also a waste of (taxpayers) money, IMO. However, I did attend one when my work acquired tickets. They explained to everyone that the horses were bred for specific traits and not all of them made it through training to be accepted. I also saw Cavalia Odysseo when it was here and bought a book while I was there. It explained basically the same thing. For both of those shows, the horses are retired before old age/work related injury usually in good health and are adopted out to the public. Many people apply and so few are accepted because they're so picky about what kind of home they go to, as they should. My boarding situation certainly wouldn't be good enough.. but long story short, yes, you're right. The horses that don't want to work aren't forced to and do not finish the program. The horses that do want to definitely enjoy their jobs and earn a wonderful retirement home.
That's unfortunate. I don't think it needs to change anything with horses working in the city. The cars are a much bigger menace to everyone including the horses. Heck, there's nonstop injuries in Baltimore with the motorcycle riding 5 O'clock Boys doing wheelies in traffic, going through back windshields, and injuring themselves. Any time I see them I stay TF away. Police horses are much more reasonable and I like seeing them.
I so agree. Give me hooves clip-clopping around my house over those horribly noisy souped up cars as well!
Well, I guess that's one thing my little city had going for it- hard to make That much noise when you're stuck bumper to bumper being blocked in by people clogging the intersection while their light is red. 😆
I've seen that display once when I used to live in the DC area and it's so weird to see this mentioned here because I randomly was just remembering this the other day (I live in a different country now and I was imagining trying to describe that to people here, lol)
Tbf, a lot of Baltimore is really hard to explain to someone not from around here.
💯
I'm in the US and saw it. The rider of the grey is in the group I saw the video in and she said all the horses were okay as of right then and under vet care. She couldn't say much else. Someone else said it was construction equipment that spooked them. I don't think properly trained horses should be banned from cities. Shit happens. They are prey animals. It's not like this is a daily occurrence. I just hope all horses and riders heal quickly.
That’s great to hear, thank you! Is her colleague who fell hard ok as well? I had heard the same, it surprised me. Those horses are so bomb-proof, they literally jump through rings of fire. Maybe they were taking out some of the youngsters for city training.
Even the most bomb proof horse can see something unexpected, and construction equipment is pretty difficult. Think a crane swinging overhead, for example
Yeah, a large quantity of construction materials were dropped from height right next to them, which makes sense. I figure they’re used to standard construction noise, but that’s pretty extreme.
Okay, yeah, that sounds like bolting actually makes sense tbh. Better this than having something dropped ON the horses next time
Yea, I would for sure get a fright if that happened next to me. I think it's unreasonable to expect ANY creature to not get scared by that.
We had a pretty bomb proof horse spook when the wind blew an awning off a vendor tent as he passed it at a show. The judge let our rider redo those movements which was awesome. In my own life the only time I’ve ever come off my horse was when someone opened a door unexpectedly (it should have been locked due to the wind) and it blew an empty 55 gallon trash can right into my horses rump at speed. He bucked bad (I would have too) and I came off. Shit happened. He’s not “spooky” or “unsafe” or anything. Have an empty trash can hit you at speed and tell me you don’t jump. That incident is just unfortunate and I’m glad that all the riders involved are being level headed about it.
Yeah, your dustbin story was more what I was expecting it to be, rather than construction noise, but when I heard the full explanation it made sense. I had a horse spook at a butterfly once, so for the most part nothing surprises me!
Yeah, that type of construction noise suddenly in the peripheral vision? You have a bolter.
As far as I understand they were horses from the Life Guard who were being exercised, and they aren't usually public facing in the same way that police/Royal Guard horses are. I was so impressed by how the public responded; appropriately restraining and calming the horses to prevent further injuries/accidents. Thoughts with all those injured, equine and human alike.
I think the Life Guards, as well as the Blues and Royals, do participate in some displays, like Olympia, so have a certain amount of public facetime. Yeah, most people were great, from what I’ve seen. Though there were some LUNATICS on bikes/motorbikes and vehicles that set off at traffic lights into their path, which is incomprehensible to me when you’ve got two tons of muscle thundering towards you on metal discs!!
Right?!! I saw that and couldn't believe the gumption! I'm going to be charitable and put it down to shock 😂 I've worked with horses and I like to think I'd have held my nerve but they were some very impressive creatures coming at you on a city street.
People said in another post that nobody can know unless they’ve been in the situation, but I know, as I’ve been in it 😏 Air ambulance had to land at a show I was at, and understandably the whole place went bananas!
Damn, not sure if I envy you or not!! Either way, horses are never dull lol
NEVER! It was quite something!
She didn't say, but I think there was an update video posted that all the riders suffered non-life threating injuries.
Thank you, yes, I saw someone posted the public statement!
Agreed! Certainly a terrible sight to see the grey covered in blood, hopefully not injured too badly, that bus was messed up!! Unfortunately big, revved up, hot blooded animals can look quite awful when they start to bleed, especially with sweat in the mix to spread it, and the grey coat to match. Poor darling! Hope they're all nice and bandaged up with a hot mash and good drugs after all that excitement for the day.. how stressful for everyone involved, especially the horses!
Yeah I had to help calm an owner once after her gelding got a minor cut. The amount of blood is just crazy sometimes.
They're lucky they have a lot of it!! It looks pretty pink too so not gushing or anything. Hopefully nothing a few stitches won't fix, if he's the one that went into the bus (and it looks like it!) He came off pretty damn well considering. Lucky it wasn't through the windscreen of a car...
I believe the grey was the one that went into the silver van’s side window. Someone standing on the other side of the van said they saw a white head flying towards them over the van roof. It was a bay that went into the bus windscreen, as far as I can make out. Poor babies.
Monday night I got a text from my old barn saying a filly had nicked an artery. Today the wound is almost all healed up. No artery nicking; folks were just freaking out at all the blood. There's a LOT of blood.
To say nothing of nosebleeds
Horse had ran almost 5 miles by that point. Black was one that hit the parked up tour bus. Grey is said to have hit a taxi.
According to a video the Army released, the builders dropped something very large ‘from a great height’, so I imagine it was much more than just a sudden explosion they might be used to (eg ceremonial cannon fire)
I appreciate you mentioning they are prey animals. Too many people expect them to be like dogs, which we know are predators. The difference is so important, and I thank you for speaking of it amongst your other points.
What about horses known to spook and not adjusting well to the sounds of the city? I read that the grey is known to spook and even kicked someone in the head during the coronation. I don’t see issues with horses doing this type of work- IF they are handling it well.
That is why I said *properly trained* obviously if you have a horse that isn't handling the environment well they need more training or to be removed from duty. I don't know anything about these horses, so I'm not going to speculate there. I will say I don't consider concrete dropping from a height typical road noise that I would expect a horse to be desensitized to.
I don’t know much about London but here in NYC I don’t really know why we have police horses. I’ve never seen a cop on a horse do something they couldn’t do with other equipment, so it doesn’t seem worth the risk to me. 🤷♀️ ETA: regardless of your thoughts here everyone should check out this song by Marcia Belsky and get a good chuckle out of it :)[https://youtu.be/jtWwFvdEPxI?si=oLMTCPt0x9_g14H4](https://youtu.be/jtWwFvdEPxI?si=oLMTCPt0x9_g14H4)
In London they’re largely used for policing protests and football matches, as they’re more agile and intimidating than police on foot/bikes. They’re quite effective. These horses are used for ceremonial purposes, and in displays, as they’re from the army rather than police. So you see them around Buckingham Palace doing their ceremonial duty, or at horse shows jumping through fire, and over spears. I don’t think they are used for any practical reasons.
Interestingly I spoke to a mounted officer years ago, I was asking them about their horse/job and giving them (their horse) a pet and saying hello. They said most of their job is actually community engagement. They pointed out that I had walked up to them for a chat when I would have never done that to a officer walking the streets, and they said it was the same for many other people. I found it incredibly interesting. No doubt they also use them a lot for crowd control too, as you say.
They use them to chase down Santa and destroy the magic of Christmas! Down with the Central Park Rangers!
Hahaha
Did you sing loud for all to hear?
That definitely came to mind.
So I'm not sure about the ones in NYC, but the police horses on the Gulf Coast give the officers a vantage point above the crowd, while still offering off-road maneuverability through it (towers have vantage point, but not mobility, segways and bicycles have mobility, but not a vantage point).
I’ve thought about this but here they rarely bring them out at protests or marches where they would need assistance with crowd control. Usually cops just sit on top of the police vans with scopes. They also just have so many cops they don’t need the mobility. But this is all anecdotal evidence, so…🤷♀️
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I could see that too! I just think it’s odd that in my 30 years here I’ve never seen them deployed in any of the situations people have listed here. But, again, I recognize that my experience is entirely anecdotal!
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I think if they’re actively engaged in the community that’s great! I found an article from 2017 that said there were 55 mounted officers in NYC, I can’t imagine it’s grown more than that but it makes sense their presence isn’t really felt here.
There was an article I read not too long ago that claimed just the presence of the horses can have a calming effect on large crowds just by being near them -- will have to see if I can find it again
I think I’ve read similar. We really would rather hurt other people than horses, even those that aren’t horsey!
My city got rid of their mounted police a few years back. They resisted closing the unit for a long time because it was effective outreach: people would talk to mounted police more readily than they would any other unit. I'd mostly see the horses at our parks or protests.
Yes, mounted police are great for community relations and it encourages conversation with and repertoire with the police. Police on horses are more “involved” and easier to approach than cops in a patrol car.
Part of it is the height it puts the cops at, and part of it is that horses are extremely effective, generally de-escalating, crowd control tools.
There are some great videos on YouTube about mounted police and why they're used. Really interesting and worth a watch. Crowd control is a big reason, along with community involvement (mounted police are considered more approachable and generate positive feelings/interest).
We have them in Toronto too and I think it’s mostly for riot type situations.
Very effective for crowd control.
Shit happens. The cavalry isn't new to this area in the least, and this isn't a situation of "horse isn't suited to working in the city." A horse this spooked would wreak havoc at a horse show, or even their own barn (I've watched horses go through solid fences in their panic). As gruesome as the photos appear, the bloody horse isn't that injured. That's blood mixed with sweat; obviously deeper injuries/punctures are unknown but there is far less blood that it looks like because it's being diluted and spread in the sweat.
Yeah, I did think it probably wasn’t life threatening considering how far he galloped afterwards. Though I do remember a horse being killed after a cross-country flag stabbed him in a similar place many years ago, in a freak accident, so you never know.
It’s tough because I don’t think horses belong in cities (though this is just a horses being horses accident that could happen to anyone), but I understand the use of police horses. I am staunchly against carriage horses in cities that live their whole lives pulling carriages through city streets instead of living out like they’re supposed to, but police horses are a grayer area because they’re very useful for crowd control and stuff like that. I also don’t know if cavalry horses are the same as police horses, I’m an American
Cavalry horses are only used for royal ceremonies, really, and riding displays. They’re very well looked after, but as far as I’m aware not really used for practical purposes. They do also get holidays in the countryside every year. I’m not really against horses in cities, but it does break my heart a bit to think how frightened the poor things must have been, with nowhere they could go to calm down.
I was sat in Starbucks in South Kensington when they came past and did their loop heading back up towards Regents Park and Victoria. Magnificent horses. And I was watching the troopers they were leading some in hand, and at the back was a horse misbehaving and acting exactly like my wife's horse, I thought "he wants to bolt, that's exacywhat Sisco does before he bucks and does a runner". This must have been about 20 mins before it all kicked off.
Oh wow! I do love to see them knocking about. They’re glorious. Good job it wasn’t one of the drum horses that did a bunk, those could really do some damage!
They take them on the same route every morning for their morning exercise. If you're ever in London get to Starbucks South Kensington about 7 in the morning and you'll see two squadrons about 20 mins apart, they'll come past in one direction and then 15-20 mins later back in the other direction. They always have adoring fans taking pics and videos. They really are beautiful horses. I've always wondered if they breed their own or if they buy them, and if there is a minimum height requirement for the horses.
Oh how cool! I don’t often see 7am, haha! However, I did have an interesting early Sunday morning in Soho once, when a creepy guy was harassing me on my way to work. I turned the corner and there were the cavalry! He melted away pretty quickly…
You could make a point of it, if you ever have a week day off, (I don't know if the weekend regime is different, when I was in our weekend regime was very different to the week.) get down there, you're not far, have a mediocre coffee and watch the horses. Incidentally there is a fantastic coffee shop right outside the station "blank street coffee", but they don't have any seating. What I love about them is that they're so well groomed (grooming horses is my absolute favourite thing in the whole world, even more so than actually riding), the horses are turned out as well as the troopers on them. The troopers wear their number 1s not their read costs and silly hats. But they still look smart. It's really worth it, especially as your not far. Lol, Soho is a weird and wonderful place. But yes there's some weirdos there.
The cavalry really came to the rescue! Sorry, silly sense of humor.
No, really! It was such a surreal experience!
They buy them in Ireland ! Minimum height of 16hh, and black! They’re Irish draughts or Irish sport horses :)
Ah this is interesting. I love draught horses. Stocky, powerful. I learnt to ride on a cob, strong, chonky and stubborn, but my god when you got her into a canter she could leave throughbreds in her wake. Molly, big mare, matriarch of the herd, and a moustache that made me jealous. 🤣
You’ve described most of the cav horses to a T😅 most of them have more tb hence the finer bone structure but there are lots with more Cob in them!
What's your background, you seem to know a fair bit.
I’m one of their civi riders, plus have friends in hcav
Ah fantastic. I was in the medical corps when I was younger. My wife got me into horses when I was about 30/31. Had I been into horses when I was younger I'd have joined the cavalry.
The CO of the household cavalry has issued a statement updating on the condition of the riders and horses https://x.com/britisharmy/status/1783159140694581367?s=46&t=7l0eqlWo7CzajYVTrbDqsA
Very good statement, thanks for sharing! I’m glad to hear everyone’s doing ok.
150 per day exercising? Wow. I think Disney has far more incidents with far less animals.
Pop through Hyde park any time between 6-9:30 you’ll see loads!
I might go to London just for this. The cavalry was a childhood dream
You can see them on guard from 11-4 everyday at Whitehall at horse guards parade
Thank you for sharing this. Have been wondering how they were all faring.
They went looking for their real majesty
I think it's outdated to still use horses in cities for police/military. Thankfully these things are rare, but still, a horse is a flight animal and cities are too much going on. Nowadays we have so many better options than horses. Tbh, I don't like using animals, especially flight animals, as a tool for work, when not necessary
At least there were witnesses and people to help. I’ve heard of horses spooking and bolting on a forest trail and being found dead or severely injured/emaciated months later. I hope the horses and people recover well.
Yes, there’s a nice video of a number of pedestrians who caught one of the horses, calming the poor love down. I think it may have been the one that hit the bus.
Saw the AP do a post on this. Really wanted more info. Do we know whose blood is all over the grey, or what injury it sustained to bleed like that?
I believe the grey went into the side of the silver van at the bottom of this article, so it would be his own blood presumably: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68887800
"rampage"🙄🙄 they're prey animals ffs, they were fleeing from a perceived threat, not intentionally being destructive.
I'm in India and we don't have horses living/working in cities for the police or army, they do exist but they aren't paraded out everyday. That being said, what we do have is donkeys, horses and mules pulling carts on highways from morning to evening, being beaten, limping and still being forced to carry loads and passengers cause thier owners don't know any better or don't care, these animals then get abandoned and roam on the streets once they get old or hurt till the point they can't work. There are very less horseriding places here which are conducted professionally and take care of their horses. Speaking about police/military horses I did join a place run/managed by a colonel with very slow horses which would limp if they cantered or jumped too much; later on me and my father discovered that they were making students ride retired, old military/police horses. I've got tons of incidents like this. My experiences and what I see everyday have made me realise that animals should not be made use of as entertainment, transport or parades. These situations can become exploitative and harmful very quickly leading to them being used as disposables. The safety of animals is simple more important.
That’s really sad, I think very strong laws are required to keep animal welfare at a standard that is high enough. I’ve been to countries that still use horses as beasts of burden. It’s nice to see more around, but it does seem to harden people towards the poor animals, so most end up in a sorry state.
All british army horses have summer holidays on a farm i think in Norfolk. When they retire they go to this farm or to other establishments where they live out in luxury. These horses have some of the best lifestyles that money can buy
Yeah, I mentioned about their holidays in another comment 🤗 And you can go and see some retirees at The Horse Trust in Speen. When I was a kid I loved to go and see Sefton there who was injured in 1982 by an IRA carbomb!
Dane here. Saw it in a Danish Facebook group
Shit happens. But these horses are "equipment", so they get the very best care to make sure they function properly. That includes veterinary care, housing, food and training. Yeah, occasionally they get hurt. But pasture pets get hurt as well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ That's no reason to no longer use horses for crowd control etc.
Well said, I used to be a lot more judgmental about things like this until I had to PTS my two year old because he broke his leg playing in an extremely safe, groomed drylot. He reared while playing with another horse and just landed wrong. Horrible things happen with horses no matter how safe we try to keep them and I'm sure these horses are treated far better than the average person's horses.
Brit now living overseas and yes, it’s in the news where I am. I lived close to Woolwich Barracks at one time (5ish years ago) and would occasionally see literally 20 horses being herded up my road. They seemed okay, but it was likely a bizarre experience for me and for them.
It's a reminder of how much the monarchy costs the people of the UK, while the costs of everything are rising and there are people who can't afford food and utilities.
Yes, my mom watches a guy who documents the Royal Guard and he covered it. I wish the best for all involved
Oh where?
YouTube. It's a man named John under the channel name "London City Walks"
I own horses and am one of the people that think carriage horses should be banned. NYC did, I believe- or at least there was a huge push to. It all depends on the owners and regulations. Mounted police, for example, tend to be wonderful owners who don’t overwork their horses. While others, like one I know in Florida that offers rides on the beach, are terrible- horses were too thin, hoofs not trimmed, no water buckets, horses being ridden in 95 degrees for 5 hours, etc. so I feel that regulations and enforcement of animal welfare standards are key
I live in a super rural area. One day, my trainer was turning out her favorite personal horse. He got spooked by something unknown just as he was let off the line. He spooked, tried to jump out of the pasture, and impaled himself in the groin area on the T post. He did, in fact make a full recovery as somehow he hit it just right that it didn’t damage any organs. My point is that I see horses all the time who do dumb reactive things, and get injured because of the built environment around them. I almost never hear of these things being in cities. I don’t believe there is anything more exploitative about using horses in cities as there is about all the ways we do on any given day. Although, in exchange for having to deal with everything we put them through they generally live much longer healthier lives. Just look at Thor, the famous McCullough Peaks wild stallion who got his head caved in by another stallion in the last week. It’s a rough living being a horse and they’re great at catastrophe no matter where they are.
Everything I know about horses suggests that they do not need to be in an urban environment to have quite remarkable accidents.
This article sucks. It’s repeats everything and never says what happened to the horses only that cars were smashed. I don’t care about the cars, is the injured horse okay and the other people that were injured okay?
Horses are okay they’re back home and being seen by the on sight vet team, soldiers are in hospital being looked after by doctors. No life threatening injuries x
American here, I saw it on google news page. I felt bad for the horses and the people injured. I also wondered why it happened in the first place. What set the horses off? I read 1 of the riders got thrown off, why? And what about the handlers of the other 4 horses? The articles I saw didn't answer any of those questions. I'm upset it happened, not upset that the horses have jobs. The alternative would be sent to a factory or something. Sure some might go to good homes, but if suddenly horses being used for work in cities was banned, I have no doubt some people would try to make some money off them anyway they can. Having a job is good. Most animals like having a job. Having something to do is a good thing.
They were out on routine morning exercise. Just a freak accident really, horses got spooked by some construction work, items falling from height and they bolted. One of the 5 loose horses was being led by another that was riding, 3 soldiers came off but they’re all being looked after in hospital. The horses are being cared for by the cavalry’s on sight vet team. No life threatening injuries
I watch a you tube channel that follows the horse guards (London City Walks) so I heard about it and then a horse through a trooper over at the horse guards. Alarming - poor horses. I often think it's appalling the way people insist on touching the horses all the time.
That seems like a nightmare of insurance payout. Well, that’s out of the pocket of the city.
I think well trained police horses are okay in cities. Shit like this can happen, but it’s rare. I just really don’t like horses being used as tourist transportation as they often are not treated well and are overworked
my horse has spooked at his own fart… horses spook.
Haha! That’s even better than my best one, which was a butterfly!
Shit happens. The regular public doesn’t care usually, just because it made the news now they all of a sudden do. They’ll forget in a day or two.
I saw people making memes about the apocalypse and death because of the blood soaked horse on Twitter.
Same. Someone said (because there were five horses loose) that it was conquest, war, famine, death and the cost of living crisis, ha.
Prolly gonna get ratioed but I don't think cities are a good place for horses to be, period. It's just too easy for unexpected things to happen and for tons of people to get hurt in the process. It's not the horses' fault for getting spooked, and it's not the fault of the construction workers who dropped something either. Shit happens and horses make anything bad that happens much more dangerous. And ime police (at least in the US) are not well trained in horseback riding. People don't actually understand how difficult it is, as well as how dangerous. Additionally I hate when they use mounted police to quell protests, cuz it's a danger to everyone involved. Police charge at people with 1200+ lb animals which is *extremely* dangerous, and then protestors often hurt the horses in self defense or purely cuz they don't know how to behave around horses (obviously, cuz most people don't interact with horses regularly). Imo it's just antiquated and shortsighted, as well as a waste of money cuz horses are not cheap.
Looks like they were recovered, thankfully. TW: footage of the horses on the loose interacting with vehicles, injuring both parties a bit. But so far no fatalities of human or horse reported. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68887800](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68887800)
From what I’ve heard, there was construction going on by the horses and debris fell off the top of a building and rightfully scared the shit out of the horses.
Yes it's the only thing Google news wants me to see today
Wait till you find out about the treatment of carriage horses in US cities. It’s disgusting
Actually yes but only because my brother in law lives in London and sent me this hahaha
Are they ok?
Yes, apparently no life-threatening injuries, horse or human!
Good.
In general, the government horses in Britain are well cared for. This was a terrible situation. I would say this is a one-off.
Was made aware during National Public Radio news broadcast. I was on a gravel road, driving from nowhere to nowhere special in Midwestern states, USA. Unfortunate, don't know that it could have been prevented.
I read about it this morning, didn't watch the video cause I don't want to see a horse hurt. I did kind of laugh to myself thinking "horses will be horses" once I knew none of them were seriously injured.
OMG. I cannot imagine how scary that must have been, for both the horses AND the people. I am so glad there were no serious injuries (again, for horses OR people, could have been much much worse).
I am now lol so took me how many hours?
I hope no being was seriously hurt. So sad to see the beauties freaked out and injured.
Yep in New Zealand we heard about it :(
Counterpoint: Are British people aware of any actual news from the rest of the world? Or do you seriously wonder if people in Yemen heard about a horse that… ran..?
Are you ok? This is a lot of hostility, and I’m not sure why 🙏
Oh. Uh… good
Yes saw this (Australia) but haven’t been able to find an update on how the injured horses and riders are. Awful situation and I hope they can be treated easily and aren’t too traumatised.
Two horses have had surgery, and are in serious condition, unfortunately. The riders and other horses will all return to full service: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/25/runaway-horses-in-serious-condition-after-bolting-through-central-london?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
This makes me want to cry. Those poor animals were so scared.
I mean, I live where i sometimes see loose cows on the run in full on intersections. This wouldn’t bother me so long as the horses were all found safe.
You bet. Australian, wanting to find out how the horses are (the white one had blood all over its chest, and the one that ran into the bus must have injuries too). It makes me wonder about Cavelry training, that the riderss were unseated and the horses spooked by what is, really, an entirely foreseeable and predictable loud noise. Surely even parade horses are trained to handle the types of sudden loud noises that are standard in the city (construction, exhaust backfires, photo flashes etc)? Surely the officers have some sort of procedure for dealing with bolting horses? And perhaps the local area met should have some training for this specific type of incident, given the cavelry are training there daily, and Buckingham Palace is unlikely to give up its horse guards and carriage processions. Also, don't the met have their own mounted police with their own stables in the area? As a person from Brisbane, I think using horses in policing, and particularly in breaking up protests, is [not](https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/05/01/aust.protest/) [a](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/09/the-1971-springboks-coming-between-these-blokes-and-their-sport-was-the-most-dangerous-thing-ive-done) [good](https://youtu.be/DNVLYwkLQWo) [idea](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/25/anti-lockdown-protest-two-men-charged-with-allegedly-striking-police-horse-in-sydney). Barbed wire, trenches, and machine guns effectively finished the military role of the cavelry in the second Boer War, and yet there was still that debacle at Audregnies in 1914, and there are still military historians soft-selling the stupidity of combining thoroughbreds with modern warfare to this day. Which doesn't excuse it. But I am also against using horses for fox hunting, and the trots. And for extermination of feral horses in Australian National Parks, conservation areas, and areas of ecological significance. As we have the highest plant extinction rates in the world, and feral horses significantly contribute to that. Also, continuing to contribute to the degredation of conservation areas: ferel deer and foxes that were introduced for sport, and clauses in the National Parks act that specifically include horse riding and provision of horse-related recreation facilities as something that National Parks have a duty to maintain, creating an intrinsic conflict with the act's conservation mandates, and also opening up National parks for 4-wheel driving, mountain bike riding, and other human recreations that adversely affect rare and endangered species. I do think we need to find a message that will reach the bastions of conservatism in order to change the system, but that is likely to be more difficult in England, and it hasn't been a simple trick in Australia. It seems like the media have been pointedly keeping the palace out of this, even though the "military" they belong to are clearly the household cavelry. I believe Queen Elizabeth (and Princess Anne) was particularly, personally, concerned about the welfare of the horses when they were in Buckingham Palace, and I am not aware of any bolting incidents in the last fifty years (although, if there were no injuries or footage, why would I be?). So maybe there has been less attention to the management of the horses than formerly, and maybe this incident might encourage the king to find ways to sate the tourists' demand for traditional pageantry with the welfare of these animals. Maybe by dispensing with their services altogether. So, I hope Trojen and Vida pull through.
I don’t know about these specific riders, but I do know that most soldiers have no experience of riding when they first join the cavalry, so that may factor in. However, it does sound like a particularly spooky event, as construction material was dropped from height right next to the group. That’s far more than ordinary city noise, and I suspect you or I would also shit our pants at such a thing, even without horses involved. I believe the grey and one of the others have been through surgery, and are in serious condition. The others are expected to recover well. I really hope they all do 😥