Lose horses London again

[adamntitch]

Can anyone find anymore about this am sure I seen that it had happened again but can't find link now

 

[Tiddlypom]

You’re right, it’s happened again this morning . Luckily, no serious injuries to horses or humans this time.

Military horses run loose again in central London https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c886qel3wdxo

All horses were recovered "swiftly and safely" and returned to Hyde Park Barracks by the Army and Metropolitan Police by 09:55 BST, with one receiving minor injuries. No soldiers were injured.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I'd thought I'd seen this too this morning but then been unable to find anything since.

Oh dear

 

[onemoretime]

Yes its true. Saw a short video of one horse glancing off the bonnet of a car. A bus frightened one of them and then a couple of the others took off as well. They were soon caught and are alright and so are the soldiers who were decanted.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Two of the horses were caught over 2 miles away . Spooked by a bus.

Bleddy fortunate.

Central London is no place for horses on the road - I got shot down for saying that last time, but it really isn’t a suitable environment to be exercising horses in.

 

[ycbm]

Two of the horses were caught over 2 miles away . Spooked by a bus.

Bleddy fortunate.

Central London is no place for horses on the road - I got shot down for saying that last time, but it really isn’t a suitable environment to be exercising horses in.

It needs to stop. They are live animals being kept in unacceptable ways and exercised in unsuitable places in order for them to do what? Ceremonial work. Work of no purpose whatsoever than to raise spirits (clearly people's not their own) and raise tourist revenues. And on top of that, people and property is being put at risk by loose horses in a frantically busy city. It's only a matter of time before it's phased out.
.

 

[adamntitch]

Am not surprised really, I watched a program about the kings troop and the riding school , in the jumping lesson most fell off more than once but they all still past they could hardly do rising trot never mind jump bouncing about all over the horses backs

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

....became loose from their riders.........do they mean their riders fell off but can't bring themselves to admit they are so badly trained and a lot of them quite inexperienced, that most will fall off if the horse becomes spooked! They should only be ridden by riders of Princess Anne's calibre IMHO.

 

[Tiddlypom]

The military should stop ride and lead on public roads as a matter of urgent priority. There were five riders and six horses out, one horse being led, in this latest incident.

Ride and lead has no place on modern roads, let alone in London. It’s grand off road, but never when mixing with traffic.

The horses came up behind this driver and the front horse half jumped over his bonnet. The fact that there were not more serious injuries was pure luck.








For those who might start taking a pop at cyclists, as usually happens on such threads , please can I remind them that if a cyclist is unseated the bicycle does not then take off in a panic on its own down the road after an accident.

 

[scats]

For those who might start taking a pop at cyclists, as usually happens on such threads , please can I remind them that if a cyclist is unseated the bicycle does not then take off in a panic on its own down the road after an accident.

Now that I would like to see (Not the unseated cyclist, but the panicked bike doing a runner!)

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

It's time to stop having the horses, there's no need for them. It's lucky no innocent person was killed

The soldiers can still parade on foot if they need to be seen, same for doing the guard duty which looks interminably boring for the horses just standing there for an hour in that tiny space. Again the soldiers can stand there on foot for the tourists to see

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

I watched a documentary about the blues and royals I think it was and the raw recruit who has never ridden was given 12 weeks training then was out on ceremonial duties. Some of the recruits passed the test at the end of the course but were falling off all the time. I guess what I’m saying is the riders aren’t sufficiently skilled in horsemanship hence the problems.

 

[Burnerbee]

Yes, it’s all a bit daft - just because you’re wearing an outfit from the 18th century, doesn’t mean traffic and noise is 18th century….Time to get with the times and ship the horses out to Windsor (or phase them out completely).

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I watched a documentary about the blues and royals I think it was and the raw recruit who has never ridden was given 12 weeks training then was out on ceremonial duties. Some of the recruits passed the test at the end of the course but were falling off all the time. I guess what I’m saying is the riders aren’t sufficiently skilled in horsemanship hence the problems.

Yes, I think that is the root of the problem, the riders need more practice before being allowed out on the horses.
I would have thought it would be possible to exercise the horses in the parks without riding routinely on busy roads, although I do think that if drivers see 'official' horses on the roads, they might not be so convinced that ordinary riders shouldn't use the roads.
Of course central London roads are so busy that at least the traffic isn't usually moving at speed.

 

[Jellymoon]

I’d be sad to see the tradition go, but something needs to change. The horses and riders need to be trained better.

 

[criso]

Yes, I think that is the root of the problem, the riders need more practice before being allowed out on the horses.
I would have thought it would be possible to exercise the horses in the parks without riding routinely on busy roads, although I do think that if drivers see 'official' horses on the roads, they might not be so convinced that ordinary riders shouldn't use the roads.
Of course central London roads are so busy that at least the traffic isn't usually moving at speed.

Apart from hacking to and fro, parks aren't closed off so if someone falls off in Hyde Park, the horse will be on the road very quickly. And lots for horses to spook at in the parks

There are lots of issues, fresh horses who are not by temperament your average riding school mount; limited riding ability; going out in big groups where they can wind each other up, and an environment with lots going on, not just traffic.

I said on the other thread that maybe these sort of activities don't have any place or relevance in a modern army. If they don't have a riding background, it's a whole new skillset to teach with no relation to the actual combat job they have to do.

If you want horses to take part in ceremonial duties then they have to be used to the environment and it will be a lot worse at a big event

So the conclusion I am coming to is these sorts of incidents are not completely avoidable so this 'tradition' has run its course.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Apart from hacking to and fro, parks aren't closed off so if someone falls off in Hyde Park, the horse will be on the road very quickly. And lots for horses to spook at in the parks

There are lots of issues, fresh horses who are not by temperament your average riding school mount; limited riding ability; going out in big groups where they can wind each other up, and an environment with lots going on, not just traffic.

I said on the other thread that maybe these sort of activities don't have any place or relevance in a modern army. If they don't have a riding background, it's a whole new skillset to teach with no relation to the actual combat job they have to do.

If you want horses to take part in ceremonial duties then they have to be used to the environment and it will be a lot worse at a big event

So the conclusion I am coming to is these sorts of incidents are not completely avoidable so this 'tradition' has run its course.

When the horses are used for ceremonial duties, the roads are normally closed to allow them all through and for security reasons.

 

[criso]

When the horses are used for ceremonial duties, the roads are normally closed to allow them all through and for security reasons.

No public cars but so much else going on and I said get them used to the environment not the traffic.

The traffic is not necessarily the issue, there is also the noise, the people and the unexpected things that happen.

The cars are an issue when they get loose but I've seen enough footage of riders falling off in Hyde Park so not always the trigger.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

No public cars but so much else going on and I said get them used to the environment not the traffic.

The traffic is not necessarily the issue, there is also the noise, the people and the unexpected things that happen.

The cars are an issue when they get loose but I've seen enough footage of riders falling off in Hyde Park so not always the trigger.

Well there certainly won't be any building work going on during ceremonial occasions, nor traffic and all the public are behind barricades.

 

[santas_spotty_pony]

I agree they need to be stopped being exercised in central London but I disagree of getting rid of them altogether as they are part of English Heritage and not all branches are treated like this - I know because we have a horse who may be going on loan to a more rural police force.

 

[Glitter's fun]

I do so agree about the skill of the riders. I saw the documentary where they were taking raw recruits & sending them out on the streets after very little experience.

I think there's generally a very arrogant "our way is better" attitude to riders in the military and the police, that leads them to be sniffy about experienced riders.

I know a lady who is a very good rider, who joined the police & kept applying to the mounted division without success. She thought it was because her general policing experience wasn't good enough yet, so kept waiting a while & re-applying. Eventually someone took pity on her & explained that she would never get in because she could already ride.
(EDITED - it was Greater Manchester Police - might not be the same everywhere.)

 

[reynold]

It appears to be not just the riders but the spookiness of the horses.

Does anyone know how much of a training program in 'hazards' are done with the cavalry horses compared with Police horses? I used to regularly attend the police and services show/competition at Imber Court in Surrey years ago and certainly the hazards test for the Police horses included loud noises, 'gun' shots, etc.

The mounted Police are regularly on the streets of London and iirc some escort the cavalry when they are on ceremonial duties. You don't hear of their riders falling off....

Perhaps a compromise would be for the cavalry horse hazards training to be aligned with the Police horse training and also maybe it's time for the equine tack to include black, noise suppressing, ear covers.

Also for any horse that has been involved in these incidents - and their riders - to be automatically sent back to 'school' for a refresher course in 'hazards' and riding.

 

[ycbm]

I don't really want my taxes used to teach soldiers to ride, especially not while we have the highest tax burden in history while the army cries out for money to defend us.
.

 

[Arzada]

The soldiers can still parade on foot if they need to be seen, same for doing the guard duty which looks interminably boring for the horses just standing there for an hour in that tiny space. Again the soldiers can stand there on foot for the tourists to see

The Buska In The Park YouTube clips show a very stressful environment for the horses. It's like an extreme petting zoo. Not every clip but in some the horses are surrounded by hordes of people. Then there is the strange behaviour of some of them when rushing towards and next to the horses for a photo. There are at least 2 horses, Arnie and Ormonde, who are so stressed by the close proximity of people that they launch their teeth at them. They make contact. And people laugh. Some resume their position with their back to the horse. In fact most people have their back to the horses for the photo shoot. Then you have the adults who feed their children to the horses by putting their child between them and the horse and you can see that the child is rightly uncomfortable. And then there's the taking hold of a rein ... Seeing the horses treated like this makes very uncomfortable viewing. If the tradition has to continue then some boundary paint on the ground, strictly reinforced, would ease things for the horses and guards.

BUSKA IN THE PARK

I FILM WHAT I SEE email biewerbd1976@gmail.com

www.youtube.com

 

[equinerebel]

"Tradition" and "heritage" doesn't cut it when humans and animals are at risk of serious injury or death. The first time it happened, I was willing to put it down to a horrible freak accident. But twice? Nah. I'm now firmly in the camp of "let's wrap this up" and chalk it down to something that we used to do. Like a lot of things.

 

[criso]

@reynold I suspect nothing like the police horses do and I wonder too about selection, type of horse used and weeding out any horse that isn't taking to it. Some of the ones in the earlier incident were back for the Kings birthday

In terms of exercising in the environment, I moved a horse from London to further out. Not central London but we hacked on busy roads, through estates to paths but never saw an open space. Very bold, not especially spooky but a tb so possibly more reactive than some. When I moved he was so spooky at first, not farm machinery or even just seeing sheep or cows but something about it all looking so different and he hacked out on full alert.

It took a couple of months to settle in a different environment.

So if you're going to use horses in big events then it makes sense for it to be a familiar environment.

 

[criso]

I don't really want my taxes used to teach soldiers to ride, especially not while we have the highest tax burden in history while the army cries out for money to defend us.
.

I'm a little surprised about how much pushback there is if you try and suggest that riding is not relevant to a modern military.

 

[Burnerbee]

I don't really want my taxes used to teach soldiers to ride, especially not while we have the highest tax burden in history while the army cries out for money to defend us.
.

Abso flippin lutely - when you think how much it must be costing to keep all those horses and gear, just so they can pop up a few times a year to impress the Emperor of Japan or whoever it may be…. Would he be so impressed if he saw our food banks?

(Although we do differ slightly in that I think we need, as a planet, to find ways of getting on together, not fighting, because that has a tendency to end very badly - but that’s a topic for another forum!)

 

[criso]

Abso flippin lutely - when you think how much it must be costing to keep all those horses and gear, just so they can pop up a few times a year to impress the Emperor of Japan or whoever it may be…. Would he be so impressed if he saw our food banks?

It does bring in significant revenue as it's a big part of drawing tourists to London and how they think of Britain but that's not a reason to keep it.

Can't see it happening though especially assuming we have a labour government by Friday. I'm not sure how big a public appetite for it there is and it would be used by certain sections of the press and the right to show that that the left hate Britain and its traditions.

 

[Burnerbee]

It does bring in significant revenue as it's a big part of drawing tourists to London and how they think of Britain but that's not a reason to keep it.

Can't see it happening though especially assuming we have a labour government by Friday. I'm not sure how big a public appetite for it there is and it would be used by certain sections of the press and the right to show that that the left hate Britain and its traditions.

Yes, you’re right - it brings in the money and let’s face it, it’s one of the few things we still do that people consider to epitomise Britishness and will travel to see. And when there aren’t horses galloping across London, we appear to do it very well. I’d suggest (planning ahead in case the palace phone to ask me ), the royal carriage horses - them what pull the carriages for your Emperor visits ), provided they’re only there as and when, and shift the army horses to Windsor - but have fewer of them with more experienced riders. I’m a fool for watching those videos of the guard horses at Horse Guards, because it winds me up, but how for many more decades are we meant to allow bored, sour horses to bite entitled tourists? Could we not have model horses? AI models???!