Was the London horse rampage avoidable?

The sight of runaway military horses – one covered in blood – wasn’t what any Londoner expected to encounter on their commute this morning. Seven horses from the Household Cavalry bolted during their daily exercise, having been frightened by falling concrete on a building site near Buckingham Palace. At least four people were hurt and several vehicles smashed. Two of the animals travelled five miles to Limehouse, in east London, before they were rounded up.

It’s no wonder people were surprised. If you live in London, you’re unlikely to see horses regularly – and, if you do see them, they’d usually be behaving themselves and on duty, not galloping blind and riderless through the roads.

While the horses that the army and police use for their respective duties are subject to thorough training and exposed to all kinds of sights and sounds before they’re allowed out on public duty, we need to remember that horses will always be horses.