Giddy-up!

June 15th, 2024| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

A strange thing happened the other day in London. All the King’s horses ran amok! (And in reaction, so did all the King’s men!)

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, several of the animals (and some subordinates) of King Charles III caused chaos on the streets of ye olde capital city, when members of the Household Cavalry lost their mounts, allowing the animals to gallop through rush-hour traffic, careening into cabs and double-decker buses while being pursued by police over several miles.

The upset started earlier in the morning with preparations for Trooping the Colour, an annual military parade to mark King Charles III’s official birthday in June. The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, an elite military unit whose well-drilled horses take part in numerous regal events including coronations, set out of its Hyde Park barracks for a trot through London to exercise.

That’s when things started to go awry. A crashing noise from construction work startled five of the horses. Four riders were thrown off their mounts. So at about 8:40 a.m. local time the horses made off, free and riderless. A hue and cry ensued.

Westminster police announced on X:

We are aware of a number of horses that are currently loose in central London and are working with colleagues, including the Army, to locate them.”

The news that equine members of the Household Cavalry—which styles itself as the “trusted guardians of the monarch”—had gone rogue soon lit up social media. The BBC fired up a live blog. Bewildered onlookers sent in regular updates on the horses’ progress over several hours during a ride which stretched from near Buckingham Palace to Limehouse, several miles away in east London.

One horse collided with a sightseeing bus. Another was reported to have smashed into a Mercedes people carrier. A white horse covered in blood was filmed galloping along Aldwych in the city’s West End, another was spotted at Victoria Station. E-bikes were knocked over in Belgrave Square. Lycra-clad cyclists on their way to work were filmed looking on in horror as horses charged by.

Alex Barnes, 24, told the BBC:

I thought, ‘I swear that was a horse.’ But it was pretty early and I was still half asleep so I wasn’t sure if it was.”

It was.

The horses, who were startled by construction work, were eventually caught. Two of the five animals suffered injuries that are now being assessed. Three riders suffered injuries but none was life threatening. And four people were taken to a hospital.

(Adding to the sense of doom was that the clock on the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the Big Ben bell, suddenly started telling the wrong time.)

Not a good thing to put your faith in those equines. The Bible said it, not I.

Some in chariots and some in horses,
but we—in the name of Yahweh, our God, we depend.
They—they bow down and they fall,
but we—we rise and we stand firm.
Yahweh, deliver the king.
May He answer us in the day we call.
Psalm 20:7–9

False [hope] is a horse for deliverance;
and by its great strength it does not save.
Behold, the eye of Yahweh [is] on those who fear Him,
on those who wait on His lovingkindness,
to rescue their soul from death.
Psalm 33:17–19

After all …

Not in the might of the horse does [God] delight;
not in the legs of a man does He take pleasure.
Yahweh is the One taking pleasure in those who fear Him,
the ones hoping for His lovingkindness.
Psalm 147:10–11

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal