Runaway Horses

 

Yesterday the news was dominated by a story that looked on the surface apocalyptic. Horses were spotted galloping through the streets of London, dodging pedestrians and colliding with vehicles. Five horses altogether were loose, but the story focused on two of them, a black and white one; although the white was clearly badly injured and bleeding profusely because it has been struck by a double-decker bus. I don't know what the horses' names are, but no doubt somebody has nicknamed them "Famine" and "War". Of course red horses don't exist, but the poor white horse looks half red because of its bleeding. Some people related it to another cataclysmic source; a scene from the zombie flick 28 Days Later, a film I've only seen part of and disliked. Everybody wondered where on earth the horses could have come from and quickly the answer was announced. They belong to the Household Cavalry, a corps made up of the Army regiments the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. They are among the ceremonial troops commonly seen marching in London for the tourists and the Royal Family. Of course, nobody takes horses onto a battlefield anymore, but they are kept for the sake of pomp and tradition. They are highly trained and it is unusual for them to behave like this. Apparently the horses were part of a parade rehearsal near Victoria Station when noises from a neighbouring building site frightened them. They immediately threw their riders and bolted. They were eventually captured and returned to their stables at the Hyde Park Barracks. They are being treated by a vet while their riders are in hospital with injuries that have been described as "not life-threatening". Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de3ubIcoqWQ. So, all's well that ends well I suppose. It does feel like there might be some predictive programming here. We'll see. I'm actually relieved that the police didn't shoot the horses this time. We know from the experience of the Merseyside white stag that the police have become very trigger-happy lately with innocent beings. No doubt they'd have mumbled some platitudes about "public safety", but thankfully it never came to that.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-bb.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-stag-and-stones-poem.html.