LONDON (AFP) – Four people were taken to hospital after spooked army horses broke loose during morning exercises in central London and galloped through the streets at rush hour, the army and emergency services said.
Photos and video posted on social media by British news outlets showed two horses running along busy roads, dodging buses, taxis and other traffic.
Both were wearing saddles and bridles, with one apparently covered in blood on its chest and forelegs.
“A number of military working horses became loose during routine exercise this morning,” an army spokesman said.
“All of the horses have now been recovered and returned to camp.
“A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention.”
A number of prestigious army cavalry regiments have stables in the British capital and horses are a regular sight around government buildings on Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, The Mall and in nearby Hyde Park.
The seven horses and six soldiers from the Household Cavalry were on an extended exercise in Belgravia, near the regiment’s barracks off Hyde Park, when the chaos erupted.
Four service personnel were thrown from their horses and five of the animals got loose.
It is believed the animals were spooked when some concrete being moved by builders hit the ground.
“Five of the horses ran off and two remained in place,” the army said.
“Four soldiers were unseated and three injured.”
The three soldiers were taken to hospital where they were being assessed but none was in a life-threatening condition.
London Ambulance Service said it was called at 8:25 am (0725 GMT) to reports of a person being thrown from a horse on Buckingham Palace Road.
Two of the horses were recaptured by the City of London Police, which polices the Square Mile financial district.
Officers contained two animals while “an army horse box had collected the horses and transported them to veterinary care”.
The driver of a Mercedes car told LBC radio he had been waiting outside a hotel in Buckingham Palace Road when he felt something smash into his car.
He said he saw three or four horses near the vehicle, and that an army rider had been thrown off and injured.
One horse crashed into a parked double-decker tour bus, smashing the windscreen.
One commuter shared a video on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, showing a black horse and a white horse being pursued by a black car.
“It was the street from Tower Bridge towards Limehouse Tunnel… just running past cars and an unmarked Range Rover following them,” the person said.
