The backstory to the Household Cavalry breaking news is that they experience inadequate caregiving back at their barracks as they are unnaturally cooped up for too long each day. Their reaction when they were spooked was exaggerated or supercharged by their need to flee their stalls where they do not have the opportunity to express natural behaviour.
The news
The Household Cavalry is in the news because seven horses were spooked by falling concrete and five of them ran through London’s streets. Two of them were seriously injured and one has been operated on as a horse hospital. The pictures were terrifying. Some of the horses ran into vehicles which is why the gray horse we see in videos has blood all over their chest. My understanding is that the horse had smashed a windscreen of a vehicle and the glass had cut the horse.
The horses were rounded up eventually after a 6-mile gallop through London. In general, they’ve been well cared for after fleeing from falling concrete.
Alleged inadequate caregiving
But there’s a back story here which LBC mentioned. On the LBC radio this morning one of the visitors said that the horses are cooped up at the barracks in stalls the entire day except for one hour of freedom. I can’t verify that.
But they are kept in stalls and not always in loose boxes said a whistleblower. And they have very little possibility to move about during the day.
And sometimes the household cavalry horses only exercise for about an hour a day. They get very little sunlight and they are “often stuck inside”.
So is a very unnatural lifestyle for a horse that normally lives in a group outside under the sun in the wild. That’s their wild heritage. It stays with them obviously in terms of fundamental characteristics and desires.
And this, I would argue, has had an impact upon how they reacted to the falling concrete which spooked them. When horses are cooped up unnaturally and are immobile all day and suddenly spooked their fleeing is a kind of reaction overflow.
Supercharged fleeing
Not only are they fleeing from an unknown danger, they are also expressing a desire and need to enjoy physical activity. Horses of course are prey animals and therefore the natural instinct is to run from potential danger which is why they were spooked and they ran fast throughout London traffic.
But arguably, they were supercharged in that escapade by the fact that the natural instincts of running in a herd in an open area were thwarted for so long.
Arguably, the horses – subconsciously if you like – were escaping from their ‘prison’; an emotionally barren environment. An area where they are subjected to “enforced action-poverty” in the words of Dr. Desmond Morris.
They were making an extra charge to escape. I think this aspect of their lives which is just surfaced needs to be discussed more thoroughly and there are calls for the cavalry to readdress how they care for these animals.
Perhaps the fact that they galloped for up to 6 miles indicates that they were not only fleeing potential danger but also their cooped-up lifestyle.
There are other concerns expressed on the LBC website such as the horses being given dirty water which might have caused some to become sick. And also, it is further alleged that sometimes the soldiers shout at the horses. The LBC whistleblower said that they are kept in horrible conditions at their Hyde Park barracks.
PETA
Jennifer White, from PETA, said that there should be an investigation into how they are looked after. She has called for the government to consider rehoming the horses.
An army spokesman told LBC that, “We take the health and wellbeing of our military working horses extremely seriously. They are well looked after, exercised daily and have 24/7 direct access to world-class veterinary care.”
Ben the Vet on stereotypical behavior
On the issue of horses being kept in stalls, Ben the Vet has commented on his TikTok channel that this can result in stereotypical horse behaviour due to stress. Horses can also make funny noises with their tongue under these stressful circumstances. It looks funny but it is very serious.
I have written about that on another website which you can read by sitting on this link if you wish. I’m not alleging or saying that the horses of the household cavalry at the Hyde Park barracks suffer from stereotypical behaviour because they are confined in this unnatural way for long periods. I’m just saying that it might be the case because of what has been reported by the whistleblower.
