A lifeguard was injured and five horses escaped and caused chaos in central London on the same day, as newly emerged footage shows Household Cavalry horses being spooked. A YouTube video of the incident, which appears to have been filmed at Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace, shows a horse rearing and throwing off a trooper. The man filming the video can be heard saying: “The horses are having a bit of a dance show this morning, they’re not settling down as quick as they usually do.” The video then shows commotion among the crowd, with a black horse appearing unsettled and moving in a frantic manner, before the rider is thrown to the floor. This also leads to other horses tugging against their harnesses and some of the people in the crowd can be seen moving backwards. After the Life Guard falls, the person behind the camera says: “Oh, a trooper has been thrown, oh good lord.” The horse then moves away from the rider before police arrive to check if he is injured. Meanwhile, a woman urges people in the crowd to remain still as a soldier moves towards the horse to keep the animal under control. Then, a medic arrives to take care of the rider and the crowd applauds as he gets back on his feet. It is not clear if the incident happened before or after horses were seen running through London after being spooked by construction works. Five of the horses managed to get loose and smashed into vehicles, before being brought under control. A white horse collided with a Mercedes people carrier, leaving blood splattered down the side. Another horse ran into a tour bus, smashing the windscreen. The shocking sight led people to question how they ended up running around the streets of London, it was later learned they had escaped during a military exercise by the Household Cavalry. This morning, Defence Minister James Cartlidge said two horses are in a serious condition. He told Sky News: “There were five horses. They have all been recovered. Three of them are fine, two of them are unfortunately in a relatively serious condition and obviously we will be monitoring that condition.” He added: “They are in a serious condition, but as I understand, still alive.” The minister confirmed the two horses are named Vida and Quaker. The horses were eventually captured in Limehouse, east London. In another interview with LBC, the minister described the incident as “very exceptional”, adding: “Obviously, we didn’t want that situation to happen. What I would stress to you is that this is very exceptional. You are probably aware that the army has horses out on exercise in central London every day of the week. “It is about 150 horses on average exercising every day. So this is extremely unlikely this scenario. Unfortunately we have seen what has happened, but all I can say is the crucial thing, as you said yourself, no serious injuries to the public as far as we aware, and of course we will be keeping an eye on the situation.”
Household Cavalry Horses Spooked, Causing Lifeguard Injury and Loose Animals Rampage
