Members of the Life Guards, a division of the Household Cavalry, in London on June 8, 2024.
Benjamin Kremel/AFP via Getty Images
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Benjamin Kremel/AFP via Getty Images
Several army horses abandoned their riders and hoofed them through central London on Monday morning, the second such incident in less than three months. The authorities have taken control of them.
“We can confirm that three Horse Regiment horses became detached from their riders during training this morning,” a British Army spokesperson told NPR via email. “They recovered quickly and safely.”
Six horses and five riders were out for a routine training session when the lead horse – which was led, not ridden – was spooked by a London bus.
At this moment, two riders fell off their horses and the three free horses took off together. Dashcam footage shared by the BBC on social media showed one of the men nearly colliding with a car before continuing to trot briskly along the busy street.
The trio fled from Seville Street to South Eaton Square, where authorities managed to recover a horse. Two others continued towards Vauxhall Bridge before being stopped.
At 9:55 a.m. local time, all animals were returned to Hyde Park Barracks.
An army spokesman added: “One horse suffered minor injuries but did not require further treatment and the soldier involved was not injured.”
Monday’s incident echoed a series of similar incidents in late April, when five army horses out for training were spooked by construction noise and fled, sending the riders charging through central London during the morning rush hour.
The horses – one of which appeared to be covered in blood – traveled through the city over two hours, tearing up a six-mile stretch of destructive road, crashing into vehicles and knocking at least one person to the ground. Four people were injured in three separate incidents that day.
None of the runaway horses were involved in Monday’s incident. But that shocking scene still made people feel a little familiar.
As Army soldiers waited on the sidewalk with the rehabilitated horses, petting and calming them, a passerby shouted: “Are they loose again?” The Daily Telegraph reported.
“Yes,” one police officer replied.
After the April incident, PETA UK said on “. All living beings go out to graze. “
The company reiterated the call on Monday, writing on Twitter: “Horses don’t belong on busy streets.”
