{"id":489793,"date":"2025-10-11T01:41:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/489793\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T01:41:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:41:23","slug":"quaker-the-rampaging-horse-puts-his-hooves-up-military-horse-who-bolted-through-london-retires-to-enjoy-quieter-pace-of-life-after-stellar-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/489793\/","title":{"rendered":"Quaker the rampaging horse puts his hooves up! Military horse who bolted through London retires to enjoy quieter pace of life after stellar career"},"content":{"rendered":"

A runaway military horse that rampaged through London<\/a> after being startled by builders has retired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quaker was one of the five animals from the Household Cavalry which raced across the centre of the capital in April last year after bolting from a routine exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Striking images of the frightened horses on the loose from the military unit, which is the King’s ceremonial guard, were broadcast worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A series of particularly dramatic pictures saw one of the animals, named Vida, with his white coat drenched in blood from colliding with vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The unit was rehearsing for a Major General’s Inspection in the central area of Belgravia, near Buckingham Palace<\/a>, ahead of the King’s Birthday Parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the seven horses and six soldiers were sent into chaos after the animals were spooked by rubble being dropped through a plastic tunnel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Four people were injured, including one member of the public and three service personnel thrown from their horses – but all, along with the animals, recovered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now Quaker is stepping down from military duties to enjoy a well-deserved retirement with The Horse Trust in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Quaker <\/p>\n

Quaker (the black horse), a runaway military horse that rampaged through London after being startled by builders has retired. Pictured: He and a blood-stained Vida bolted through London’s Aldwych<\/p>\n

\"Quaker <\/p>\n

Quaker (Black, left) and Vida (grey) have made progress in their recovery<\/p>\n

\"Quaker <\/p>\n

Quaker is stepping down from military duties to enjoy a well-deserved retirement with The Horse Trust in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. The household Cavalry horse seen enjoying a field on a sunny day<\/p>\n

The sanctuary has cared for service horses ever since it was founded 139 years ago, in 1886.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is currently the permanent retirement home for 32 former military working horses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The charity also hosts so-called horse turnout days, giving hard-worked animals the chance to take some time off and go out to pasture to graze, exercise and socialise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some 3,430 of these days took place last year, including for horses from the King’s Troop Royal Artillery and the Metropolitan Police.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Louise Sandher-Jones, minister for veterans and people, said: ‘We have a commitment to all who serve our nation, including our much-loved service animals.<\/p>\n

‘Quaker’s well-deserved retirement comes after a stellar career in the Armed Forces and after a high-profile bolting incident, which captured the nation’s attention.<\/p>\n

‘This partnership with The Horse Trust also shows how the Army looks after its military working horses and will improve animal welfare.’<\/p>\n

Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Woodard, commanding officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, said: ‘The partnership between the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and The Horse Trust is a shining example of what can be achieved when tradition meets compassion.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A series of particularly dramatic pictures saw one of the animals, named Vida, with his white coat drenched in blood from colliding with vehicles<\/p>\n

\"\" \"The <\/p>\n

The Horse Trust sanctuary has cared for service horses for 139 years, including horses from the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and The Met<\/p>\n

\"Life <\/p>\n

Life Guard Squadron Leader Major Tom Stewart says goodbye to Household Cavalry horse Quaker as he begins his retirement<\/p>\n

‘This initiative plays a crucial role in supporting long-term physical and psychological welfare, ensuring they return to duty refreshed and well-balanced.’<\/p>\n

Ambulance crews treated four people in three separate incidents in the space of just ten minutes after the chaos began last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three service personnel were treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries, while a\u00a0fourth person, a cyclist and member of the public, was also injured.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The horses went on a six-mile rampage, colliding with vehicles including a double-decker bus and a taxi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But they were eventually recovered – two from more than five miles away, in the Limehouse area of east London – and returned to their unit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of the horses that bolted, Quaker and Vida, the animal seen covered in blood, were more seriously injured and spent time recovering at The Horse Trust<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the other three, Tennyson, Trojan and Vanquish, made ‘swift and successful’ recoveries – and even participated in last year’s Trooping the Colour ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A runaway military horse that rampaged through London after being startled by builders has retired.\u00a0 Quaker was one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,2633,92,393,4884,257,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-489793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-buckingham-palace","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115352993248533983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}