Army bosses have claimed it is 'too early to know' if two runaway Household Cavalry horses that rampaged through central London will ever return to active duty.
Quaker, a black stallion, was the more seriously injured of the four runaways after it is believed he smashed into the side of a silver Mercedes Taxi, leading to a life-saving surgery at an undisclosed equine hospital last night. Quaker smashed into a silver Mercedes taxi, shattering his windows and leaving deep dents with specks of blood splattered across the side
'The extent of the injuries is not completely clear but we don't believe at this stage there are any broken bones. The injuries are consistent with serious lacerations.' A spokesman told MailOnline: 'Be in no doubt, had these not been military horses then their chances of survival would have been greatly reduced.'
An Army spokesperson said: 'Two of the injured horses were operated on last night, with one transferred to an equine hospital. All remaining horses are being closely observed.'Of the seven horses which were spooked, five tried to bolt and four, Vida, Trojan, Quaker and Tennyson, broke loose. He told Sky News today: ' are unfortunately in a relatively serious condition and obviously we will be monitoring that condition.'
'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. Onlookers yesterday said one of the Household Cavalry soldiers was left 'screaming in pain' after he was thrown from his horse when it struck a car by the Clermont Hotel on Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria.
MailOnline discovered one of the animal's horseshoes that was thrown off when they were on Fleet Street 'I heard a big bang from further down the road as the horse ran into the bus. Two others then also hit it and fell to the ground before getting up and running off.'A man from the street came over and guided it out of the road and calmed it down. I was very impressed because he wasn't in any uniform. He just knew how to deal with the horse.Bashir Aden, 48, a construction worker, told The Telegraph: 'I saw a soldier falling down into the street after the horse ran into a car.