London horses: Two in ‘serious condition’ after rampage through central London

Two Household Cavalry horses are in a “serious condition” after escaping and galloping through central London.

According to reports, seven horses were spooked near Belgravia and four threw their riders off and broke loose on Wednesday morning. 

They then ran loose through the city and collided with vehicles, including a double-decker bus and taxi.

Three soldiers were taken to hospital and a fourth person was injured. 

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A spokesperson for the Army said: "Of the seven horses which were spooked, five tried to bolt and four - Vida, Trojan, Quaker and Tennyson - broke loose.

"Two of the injured horses were operated on last night, with one transferred to an equine hospital. All remaining horses are being closely observed."

The spokesperson added that the horses that did not have surgery were expected to return to duty "in due course".

Defence Procurement Minister James Cartlidge told LBC on Thursday morning: “Five horses have been recovered to the army. Three of those are fine but unfortunately two of them are in quite a serious condition and we will be continuing to monitor that.”

Asked if they were going to pull through, Mr Cartlidge said: “I wouldn't want to speculate on that. Unfortunately they are in a serious condition.”

The two injured horses are called Quaker and Vida. One of them, a white horse, was seen covered in blood.

The three cavalry officers who were injured in the incident are all expected to “recover fully and return to duty”, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said on Thursday.

One soldier was discharged overnight while two others are still in hospital but in a stable condition.

The horses had been taking part in a military exercise in Belgravia on Wednesday morning when they were “spooked by some construction work” where “building materials were dropped from height right next to them”, said an army spokesperson.

“The ensuing shock caused all horses to bolt and unseated some riders.”

Video footage showed two horses running near Aldwych, with one appearing to be soaked in blood.

Mr Cartlidge described the incident as an “exceptional situation”, adding that more than 150 animals were on exercise in the capital each day.

“Obviously, we didn’t want that situation to happen. What I would stress to you is that this is very exceptional,” he said.

“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 are aware, and of course we will be keeping an eye on the situation.”