Two of the five British Army horses that escaped running wild yesterday in the center of London and galloped through the streets at rush hour are in “serious conditions”, announced Defense Minister James Cartlidge. “There were five horses. They have all been recovered. Three of them are well, two unfortunately are in relatively serious condition and obviously we will monitor their conditions”, the minister told Sky News. The names of the injured horses are Vida and Quaker, he added. Seven horses and six soldiers from the Household Cavalry were on exercise in Belgravia, near the regimental barracks near Hyde Park, when chaos erupted on Wednesday morning. Four soldiers were thrown from their horses and five of the animals broke free, frightened by the concrete moved by the builders which hit the ground. Two horses then raced along busy streets, dodging buses, taxis and other traffic.
Three of the unhorsed soldiers were taken to hospital for checks, but none of their lives were in danger. A number of the Army’s prestigious cavalry regiments have stables in the British capital and the horses are a regular sight around the government buildings in Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, The Mall and in nearby Hyde Park. Cartlidge stressed that it was “extremely unlikely” that yesterday’s events would be repeated. “You probably know that the Army has horses on exercise in central London every day of the week. On average there are around 150 horses on exercise every day,” she told LBC radio. “So this scenario is extremely unlikely.” The London Ambulance Service was called at 8.25am (9.25am in Italy) to reports of a person thrown from a horse in Buckingham Palace Road.
Two horses were recovered by City of London police, who control the Square Mile financial district. Officers contained two animals while “an Army horse box collected the horses and transported them to veterinary care.” The driver of a Mercedes told LBC radio that he was waiting outside a hotel in Buckingham Palace Road when he heard something hit his car. He said he saw three or four horses near the vehicle and that an army rider had been thrown and injured. A horse crashed into a parked double-decker tourist bus, destroying the windshield.