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Horses Running Free in Central London

259 replies

Melontree · 24/04/2024 10:18

I just saw this breaking piece. One of the horses is bleeding/has blood on it. They're both saddled and bridled - I can't imagine what's happened here. I'm sure there'll be an explanation at some point, but I truly hope the horses and riders are okay.

Anyone in the area seen/heard anything?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/24/horses-on-loose-central-london

Two horses, one covered in blood, run loose in central London

Metropolitan police say they are trying to locate the animals seen running near Aldwych

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/24/horses-on-loose-central-london

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Mynewnameis · 24/04/2024 10:19

That's awful. They must be terrified

TheFairyCaravan · 24/04/2024 10:21

They’re Household Cavalry horses who’ve been spooked while exercising and thrown their riders. A serivceman has been hurt, one of the horses has collided with a bus and another with a car. There was/is 5 on the loose.

mindutopia · 24/04/2024 10:24

As a horse person, gosh, that fills me with the fear. I suspect someone had a fall and the other got off to help them and something spooked them (or intentionally if someone was being an asshole). It's odd that they can't find them though because you can't miss two horses in an urban area easily, though I suspect the police chasing them is not helping. Hopefully they can get a mounted officer with some experience on the scene to help.

Melontree · 24/04/2024 10:24

Five of them! Blimey. Thanks for the updates - poor things. I hope they're okay, and the people involved, obviously.

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Mishmashs · 24/04/2024 10:26

Poor things. I’ve had to catch runaway horses before and it’s very difficult if they’ve got the wind up them and there’s so much going on in the area like traffic and probably people making a grab for the reins.

whoputallofthatthere · 24/04/2024 10:28

Poor things - hope all horses and people involved are OK.

Badburyrings · 24/04/2024 10:30

I read this story just now, as a horse owner it is your worst nightmare. That is an awful lot of blood on the grey horse. They don't spook easily so god knows what happened to make them. Poor horses and riders, truly awful experience.

spiderlight · 24/04/2024 10:34

This is awful. I hope they manage to catch the horses soon and that the rider who was thrown isn't too badly injured. There's a lot of blood on that grey 😥

TheFairyCaravan · 24/04/2024 10:35

My immediate concern, especially as the mum of a soldier, is something sinister happened here. They’re Household Cavalry horses, they’re used to noises, being in crowds etc, so what happened today? Soldiers don’t leave their horses so they can run through London, it just wouldn’t happen.

BoredAuditor · 24/04/2024 10:35

Oh, household cavalry horses would have an extremely high spook threshold. How sad. Can't see this having a happy ending.

TheFairyCaravan · 24/04/2024 10:36

The two horses have been caught now apparently.

Sunnyside4 · 24/04/2024 10:39

Hope the soldier is ok and all horses, especially the one with blood on it.

heldinadream · 24/04/2024 10:45

The BBC news channel newsreader was smiling like it was some kind of light hearted joke! Said something about it being 'a bit frightening'. Bloody horribly frightening for the horses. Arsehole! He didn't even seem to clock the blood.
That footage of them, poor things, encountering traffic and trying to get through. My sympathies are entirely with the horses, and any rider who has been injured.

PuttingDownRoots · 24/04/2024 10:49

Poor things. 5 miles... they must have been terrified to just keep going like that.

Hope the 4 people injured are okay well.

heldinadream · 24/04/2024 10:49

From the BBC incident page. Sounds the the blood is the horse's blood. Poor thing I hope it's ok but it must be quite an injury to bleed that much and it must have been so frightened.

Speaking to BBC Radio London earlier, Sean - a black cab driver in Blackfriars - described seeing three horses gallop towards Buckingham Palace.
"It sounded like a car crash, one was possible injured," he said. "Maybe that is why there are only two being seen.
"I pulled out of Buckingham Palace Road, there one of the riders was on the road on his back being tended to.
"There was a Mercedes Vito parked outside the Grosvenor Hotel with its side smashed in and covered in blood.
"All the windows were smashed so I am guessing the white horse has hit that running into it."

Radio London - Listen Live - BBC Sounds

Listen live to BBC Radio London on BBC Sounds

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_london

Clumsywithwords · 24/04/2024 10:50

Just read this on the news and as a horse owner filled me with dread, those poor horses…

Despite being a lot of blood on the grey he’s obviously up and moving ok however I know only too well how much adrenaline can mask injury in animals.

I’ll be following and really hoping for a positive outcome.

hattie43 · 24/04/2024 10:51

These horses are carefully chosen for temperament and highly trained so goodness knows what would be that alarming to spook them . Hope everyone and horses are safe although I read a soldier took a nasty tumble .

Citrusandginger · 24/04/2024 10:53

Oh no that's scary. Poor horses & riders. Really hope they are Okay.

BrieHugger · 24/04/2024 11:05

Just read this, it’s very near my office though I’m not there today. I’m quite scared of horses but this must have been terrifying for them and everyone who witnessed it, all that blood as well. Hope the horses and the injured rider (as well as drivers of the damaged vehicles) are ok.

Heartoverhead1 · 24/04/2024 11:07

Using horses in this way in the middle of London seems very unnecessary in this day and age.

fatshamedbyfamily · 24/04/2024 11:09

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

SquirmOfEels · 24/04/2024 11:24

SKY reporting that all people and horses are accounted for, and that those which need it are receiving appropriate medical care (whether from vet or doctor)

I suspect the grey horse's injuries were not as bad as it looked - a bolting horse will sweat and even a small amount of blood can cover a lot of horse and on that colour it would show up dramatically. It looked to be moving OK, which is a good indicator.

What's staggering is how far they crossed London before running out of steam - all the way from somewhere neat Hyde Park to Limehouse!

Roryhon · 24/04/2024 11:29

It looked lame on the clip I saw. And that’s a lot of blood even taking into consideration that its blood was pumping and it’s grey.

But good that they’re all safely rounded up and can be treated.

Roryhon · 24/04/2024 11:33

These were some of the pics from Facebook. It looks quite scary. And some ran five miles before they were caught. Poor things. I am torn over how I feel nowadays. I love seeing them, but I wouldn’t want my horse to have their lives.

Horses Running Free in Central London
Horses Running Free in Central London
Horses Running Free in Central London
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