Horses Running Free in Central London

[Melontree]

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

BBC is reporting that two of the horses have been operated on and one transferred to an equine hospital, so I’d hope that the vets seeing this as worthwhile is a good sign.

Edit: BBC update is taken from a British Army TwiX statement.

Yes I would think the legs and feet are a concern, tendons & joints may well be damaged from sliding/colliding as well as concussion injuries, trauma laminitis and the obvious injuries.

Plus the effects of the stress, horses can and do colic after they've experienced high levels of stress so I would imagine that's a concern too. Rebalancing electrolytes etc.

But, they probably have a good chance if medical intervention can help, I wouldn't think that money will be a problem and don't they have their own dedicated equine vet team? People to monitor them and the skills on hand straight away.

The riders are in the best place, and the cyclist who was hit, and hopefully they will all make a full recovery from whatever injuries they have, and it might well be they don't want too many details released, their families may not have been contacted yet or they may just want some privacy, it's been a really high profile incident with news footage going viral so I wouldn't blame them.

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/army-horses-injured-in-london-undergo-surgery-update-856255?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHezrc1a2s8NaJ5l8Hb2_JbutSt-bTwPFm5z5LF604ycl3WZV3rUj_KKzHg_aem_AeBr4schpToziS6fG9InS6adjqcNsuUxGacVdNAN5o22HxMer2w4vH1ac0l2x0xYZXQ#lvf33sz2iw1qek8mn9

The two horses underwent surgery last night with one being transported to the equine hospital for observation.

I was heartened to hear all in good spirits.

“The spokesman told H&H that it is understood the horses are “in good spirits”, including Vida, the grey who was pictured bleeding profusely.”

All riders are on the road to recovery and will be back to full duty soon.

The horse in the equine hospital has been confirmed as Quaker. They've not named the other horse that has been operated on, but the horses involved were Trojan (the black horse seen in the footage), Vida (the grey) and Tennyson.

@Remoteaccess fair point about the damage the horses will have done to themselves running so fast on hard ground.
I was taking a simplistic view they were on their feet, so can't be that badly hurt.

Fantastic news to hear the soldiers were expected to be able to return to duties. I was really worried they might have spinal or other permanent injuries, especially as someone had commented they didn't they were wearing any protection.
Thanks for sharing that @Clumsywithwords

Was Quaker the horse who collided with the bus?

I think the commentator was also shitting herself, as she was in the middle pen!

I don't know why but this has upset me so much. Those poor horses, I am glad to hear they seem to be recovering now.

The fact that none of us remember anything like this ever happening before is testament to how well trained these horses are. But NO amount of training can completely eliminate the possibility of it happening. They are flight animals, and the instinct to run like hell in a crisis can't be uninstalled. It's not as simple as "they are used to x, so x won't frighten them" - my horse once nearly killed both of us because he was spooked by some Shetland ponies in a field. Literally, his own species made him lose his head so so completely that we ended up going home separately - he had to be collected in a horse box, I went to hospital in an ambulance. On the other hand, he had variously kept his cool while being followed by escaped pigs, meeting a low-flying helicopter coming over the brow of a bill we were cantering up, and any number of cars, vans, and even articulated lorries belting past him with just inches to spare at 60mph. You just never know 🤷

@PuggyPuggyPuggy also not to mention that sometimes they are just twats 😜 As demonstrated by Bean:

https://x.com/LifeOfBean/status/1778839707679387915

It doesn’t surprise me at all if horses are inconsistent, humans are after all. Sometimes you’re already reaching your limit and a thing you have tolerated many times before is just the last straw.

They've now confirmed that Vida (the grey) was the other horse operated on and he is recovering at the Hyde Park Barracks. That's a good sign as if the surgery had been major he'd be in a veterinary hospital.

From BBC:

"Vida was operated on overnight and is currently in stables at the Hyde Park Barracks under observation.
"Quaker was also operated on overnight but it was decided to move the horse to an equine hospital in the early hours.
"The extent of the injuries is not completely clear, but we don't believe at this stage there are any broken bones. The injuries are consistent with serious lacerations."
He added that of the three soldiers injured, one has been discharged, two remain in hospital, but that all are expected to return to duties.
A cyclist was also hospitalised in the incident. There is no further update on their condition.

Was Quaker the one who hit the bus?
Their was a puddle of blood underneath him when the guy with the backpack was holding him.

The parent of one of the Army vets treating the horses yesterday has been commenting on a Horse & Hound forum and said that one of the two caught near Victoria had to be treated for catastrophic bleeding, and mentioned an arterial tear. Presumably Quaker? And that Vida, the grey, was in poor condition when picked up in Limehouse, with serious chest and groin wounds and blood pooling from the soles of his feet. But the latest post says that all the horses were doing well this morning, so fingers crossed.

I've seen a news article that says the grey is not expected to return to military duties. So will presumably be rehomed once recuperated (I hope getting one last Norfolk holiday before that)

Question - does anyone know how many horses were out that morning? Was it those 5, or were there more? If more, then it's testament to their training and their riders horsemanship that more did not bolt, despite the noise and impact of the bolting of some of their herd.

As aside note, it must have occurred pretty to close to the memorial to the Hyde Park bomb where 11 people and 7 horses died.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/25/blood-soaked-horse-serious-condition-injuries-london/
This is the most comprehensive account I've been able to find.

Argh...that's behind a paywall... are you able to copy and paste the text?

Thanks.

It's not really fair to nick entire content from behind a paywall.

Summary of main points and maybe a few brief quotations is usually held to be fair comment though.

From what I've read...
7 horses, 5 or 6 riders were in the group.
4 riders unseated, 5 horses bolted after unexpected construction noise
3 riders plus one civilian needed hospital treatment
2 horses needed operations. (The grey and one other). One subsequently moved to hospital.

On the subject of loud bangs, construction and feeling vulnerable/overwhelmed by London building noise, I can very well imagine how easily a construction incident could (a) happen and (b) spook even well trained horses.

I had a scary experience a few years ago when I brought my daughter to London for a visit when she was 12. Friday morning we set out from our city hotel near Kings X and going along one of the smaller but still busy streets, there were some guys unloading beer kegs from a truck down onto the street and into a pub cellar. The pathway was narrow alongside where they’d parked by the kerb and as we passed, some premonition or 6th sense made me suddenly jerk my child out of harms way just as a beer keg came flying down from the truck right above our heads and bounced onto the path, missing my daughter by millimetres. I’m still staggered by what a close call it was, and how risky an activity it was.

I do love London, but also find it extremely noisy and jarring.

Hope every creature makes a full recovery from what happened and that building sites tighten up their training and H&S too, if some good can come out of it.

Am i understanding this correctly- one horse had no rider at the outset ?
Why?

They often lead a horse or two

Because all the horses need exercising even if they don't have enough riders available

The horse that the guy with the backpack caught didn't have a saddle, so must have been being led, I guess.

Quaker (the horse taken to an equine hospital) hit the silver taxi.
Tennyson hit the bus.

Two runaway Household Cavalry steeds 'may never serve again': Black horse Quaker is recovering in equine hospital and is more seriously injured than blood-soaked grey Vida following London rampage, Army reveals | Daily Mail Online