LONDON — There was mayhem at rush hour in the British capital Wednesday when five elite military horses — one of them apparently covered in blood — broke loose and galloped riderless through miles of downtown London.
First responders raced to incidents 5 miles across the capital after the steeds from the Household Cavalry, the top regiment of the British Army, became spooked by construction work, the army said.
Four military riders were thrown from their mounts, which then charged past iconic landmarks and collided with vehicles, including a black London taxi and a double-decker tour bus, damaging its windshield.
“A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention,” the army said in a statement after the horses were finally contained.
The surreal image of saddled horses bolting through one of the largest cities in the world prompted Brits on social media to joke — perhaps nervously — that it may be a portent for some terrible looming event. The hashtag #Apocalypse briefly trended on X in the famously sardonic United Kingdom.
For hours it was unclear what led to the bizarre spectacle and whether it had been brought to an end, until details were slowly drip-fed by the army, police and ambulance services.
At around 8 a.m. (3 a.m. ET), a group of six riders and seven horses from the Life Guards, part of the Household Cavalry, were out on what's known as a "watering order." That is a training exercise designed to familiarize the animals with the varied and unpredictable sights and sounds of the bustling metropolis.
It's a necessary step for the animals, which as part of an elite mounted unit participate in the king’s birthday and other ceremonial parades enjoyed by London's thronging tourists.
Their riders' chest armor, swords and distinctive helmets, adorned with plumes of horses' hair, will be familiar to anyone who watches Britain’s opulent royal events in person or on TV.
However, the training exercise ran into trouble as the unit passed Wilton Crescent, a lavish, sweeping terrace built in the 1800s in the affluent Belgravia area of London. Nearby construction workers were using a conveyor belt to shift concrete, some of which fell off and hit the floor, according to the army.
That caused the horses to spook, with five of the seven animals bolting, the army said. As they rampaged the streets, the four horses that were mounted threw off their riders, with the other unmanned horse joining the posse, the army said.
First responders rushed to the scene and treated two people for injuries, the London Ambulance Service said. More paramedics were called to nearby Buckingham Palace Road, where another of the riders was thrown from a horse, it said. Crews there treated someone in the street behind a blue tarpaulin.
The horses galloped for miles. And another ambulance crew treated a horse-related injury at a busy junction not far from St. Paul's Cathedral, it said. In total, three riders were injured and taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the army.
It wasn't clear exactly when the horses were brought under control, but by 10:30 a.m. the army said the animals had been contained and returned to camp.
Officials said some of the horses had been injured, although it was not clear what caused the large patch of blood that appeared to be splashed across the chest and front legs of one of them. The BBC sent a reporter to Limehouse, an area in the east of the city where at least some of the animals were retrieved, where they photographed a large patch of blood and horse manure on the sidewalk.
A cab driver, identified only as Robbie, told the U.K. public broadcaster he had heard “galloping and looked behind and there were about three or four horses.”
“I looked in the rear mirror and saw them coming right up behind me,” he added, saying his main concern were the two passengers in the back of his cab. “Luckily they swerved towards the middle of the road and carried on, but they were going at some speed.”
He described one of the horses as being “covered in blood” and said that “it looked like it was injured quite badly.”
The City of London Police said in a statement that it was "pleased to confirm that all of the horses have been accounted for. We are continuing to liaise with the Army."
While the pandemonium was underway, the clock in the Elizabeth Tower — more commonly known as Big Ben, the city's most recognizable landmark and usually an icon of stability — stopped without explanation at 9 a.m.
Users on social media reflected that the dramatic scenes resembled a portent for some apocalyptic event, though it was unclear whether the horses' being caught would ward off such a scenario.
