Escaped Household Cavalry horses must miss Trooping the Colour, group warns

Allowing the escaped Household Cavalry horses to perform among the Trooping the Colour’s “noisy, unpredictable crowds” would be a danger to the public, an animal rights charity has warned.

Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have called for the five horses injured in the panic to be retired from duty and not made to return for the King’s Birthday parade in a letter to the regiment’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Woodward.

The warning comes days after the British Army said three of the injured horses – Trojan, Tennyson, and Vanquish – are already back on duty and “against all expectations, are looking likely to take part” in the annual parade on 15 June.

The other two horses – Vida and Quaker – are also expected to return to work, but they continue to recuperate in the countryside, as the army revealed in a photograph of the horses looking well.

However, as Trooping the Colour is a large-scale military event involving guns and soldiers, PETA have argued that the horses should not participate and all five of them should be retired permanently.

Dramatic scenes unfolded when the horses were spooked by noise from a nearby building site in April, which prompted them to throw off their riders and gallop through London, injuring themselves and various pedestrians in the process.

This prompted widespread public concern for their welfare, despite experts insisting that such incidents are rare.

The animal rights group is now arguing that should the horses participate in Trooping the Colour, they could be a danger to themselves and other people.

Kate Werner, PETA’s senior campaigns manager, wrote to Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Woodward: “Clearly, these horses are easily agitated and sensitive to noise.

“Forcing them to perform at a crowded event marked by drums and a 41-gun salute would place them and the public at risk.

“The whole world was rightly shocked to see images of scared, blood-soaked horses running through the streets of London after getting spooked during April’s failed exercise.”

The group also took the opportunity to argue that the military’s continued use of horses is no longer a necessity in the modern world.

“Tradition is never an excuse for animal suffering, and each horse deserves to live free from the stress they endure when paraded through a busy, loud capital city with a human on their back, all for the amusement of noisy, unpredictable crowds,” the letter added.

As revealed by the army themselves, over 200 horses will take part in this weekend’s event as well as one “extremely large dog” – an Irish wolfhound who is the official mascot of the Irish Guards.

While the King typically rides on a horse too, because of his ongoing cancer treatment, he will inspect the soldiers from a carriage this year instead.

The army said in a statement: “After weeks of gruelling rehearsal and painstaking preparation, two hundred and fifty musicians, twenty pipers, two hundred and forty military working horses, an extremely large dog, and almost a thousand dual role soldiers of the British Army’s Household Division will deliver a magnificent spectacle for The King, the Nation, and the World in London on Saturday 15 June.

“The King’s Birthday Parade is a gift from the British Army’s Household Division to His Majesty on the occasion of The King’s official birthday. Held traditionally on the second Saturday in June, regardless of the Sovereign’s actual date of birth, the parade is an opportunity for The Household Division to demonstrate their professional excellence and loyalty to the Crown.”

The Independent has reached out to the Household Cavalry and PETA for further comment.