London runaway horse Quaker ‘not looking good’ as Vida returns to stables – live

Vets cannot be certain whether two of the horses that ran loose in London will ever go back into service.

An Army spokesman said: “We are hoping that both these horses make a recovery. Whether they will recover enough to return to official duties, it’s too early to know for sure.

“But they’ve been given the best veterinary treatment possible and remain under close supervision.

“Vida was the most visibly injured and the pictures of the horse running through London soaked in blood were horrifying. Vida was operated on overnight and is currently in stables at the Hyde Park Barracks under observation.”

Quaker was also operated on overnight but it was decided to move the horse to an equine hospital in the early hours for more specialist treatment.

“The extent of the injuries is not completely clear but we don’t believe at this stage there are any broken bones,” the spokesman said.

“The blood seen on Vida (the grey horse) was consistent with lacerations.”

A military source has told The Sun that things “aren’t looking good” for the black horse Quaker as Vida returns to her stables overnight after an operation.

Army bosses have claimed it is ‘too early to know’ if the pair that rampaged through central London will ever return to active duty.

An Army spokesman said: “Vida was the most visibly injured and the pictures of the horse running through London soaked in blood were horrifying.

“Vida was operated on overnight and is currently in stables at the Hyde Park Barracks under observation. Quaker was also operated on overnight but it was decided to move the horse to an equine hospital for more specialist treatment.”

Two horses that needed surgery after being badly wounded may never return to duty.

The British Army wrote on social media: “Our horses receive the highest standards of care, and those that did not undergo surgery are expected to return to duty in due course.”

Two of the horses who bolted and ran loose in London on Wednesday are in a serious condition, a minister has said.

Defence minister James Cartlidge told Sky News: “There were five horses. They have all been recovered. Three of them are fine, two of them are unfortunately in a relatively serious condition and obviously we will be monitoring that condition.”

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

Asked about the condition of two of the horses by LBC, the minister said he “wouldn’t want to say more” than that they were in a serious condition.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary explained why the situation, which required two of the horses to be operated on, may have escalated so quickly.

“The incident that spooked those horses must have been fairly dramatic for them to have taken off like that,” Nic De Brauwere, head of behaviour at the charity told The Independent.

“When horses are in flight-or-fight mode, they will continue to run away from what they think could be a dangerous situation until they feel calm enough to relax.

“I imagine that they probably felt disorientated when they started to calm down and they didn’t have a solution as to how to find their way back home until they were caught.

“They probably would have known how to get back to the barracks and walked to that place if they were along their normal route. Horses are pretty good at recognising where they are.”

Animal-rights campaigners said the horses should not be used by the military, and they called for them to be allowed to act out their natural behaviour, including running free.

A petition for the horses to go to a sanctuary has attracted more than 10,000 names.