‘Too early to know’ if injured military horses will return to duty

One of the horses could be seen covered in blood after smashing into a number of vehicles, as ITV News Reporter Caroline Lewis reports

Two of the horses who bolted and galloped across central London on Wednesday are in a “serious condition”, a minister has said.

Five horses were recovered after the incident, which saw three soldiers and a cyclist sustain injuries after chaos broke out during rush hour.

“Three of them are fine, two of them are unfortunately in a relatively serious condition and obviously we will be monitoring that condition,” Defence Minister James Cartlidge told Sky News.

He added: “They are in a serious condition, but as I understand, still alive.”

The minister also confirmed the names of the two horses are Vida and Quaker.

He said the military horses running loose through London was an “exceptional” situation. a minister said, explaining more than 150 animals are on exercise in the capital each day.

“Obviously, we didn’t want that situation to happen. What I would stress to you is that this is very exceptional," he added.

“You are probably aware that the army has horses out on exercise in central London every day of the week. It is about 150 horses on average exercising every day. So this is extremely unlikely this scenario.

"Unfortunately we have seen what has happened, but all I can say is the crucial thing, as you said yourself, no serious injuries to the public as far as we aware, and of course we will be keeping an eye on the situation.”

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