While scrolling through my Facebook the Royal King’s Guards page comes up showing videos of the rider and horse and the tourists that come up to get a photo. Some of the horses look very unhappy and will sometimes bite the tourists. And the non-horsey people that don’t realize you shouldn’t touch a strange horse let alone grab the reins. Excuse my ignorance as I’m not familiar with the tradition and was curious why they continue having the guards and horses stand in a small space in our present times with lawsuits and animal rights.
Do you mean the British Household Calvary?
If so, there are notices telling tourists that horses can bite. Unfortunately, AFAIK the notices are in English only.
I have wondered if the horses and riders will be moved inside the gates where the tourists cannot get to them, as the foot guards were decades ago at Buckingham Palace. I don’t
remember whether or not Horse Guards Parade is an open publicly accessible passage or not.
Tradition.
A bit like the USA traditions of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and using horse drawn caissons in military funerals when a black Cadillac hearse would suffice, or overflies of aviator funerals with the missing man formation.
I have watched a few of the Youtube videos though, and the behavior of people around the horse is interesting. Here is one example video if anyone isn’t familiar with the horse guard.
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I wish they would stop with the guard. I understand its a tourist attraction, but why do the horses and guards need to stand there all day. LCDR, you say tradition,… I say poppycock, its outdated and I feel, needs to stop. Keep the horses for parades, ceremony, etc. But not this.
Also, how useful is this guard really? They are just for show. How long does each horse stand there?
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Well, they did finally stop traditional live fox hunting in England.
Perhaps King Charles will consider dispensing with some of the horse-related traditional activities of the Royals. Though I doubt it; he is too old and heavily steeped in tradition and privelege. Maybe Prince William will see the folly in continuing horse tradition.
According to what I have found, the shift for each horse is an hour. So it is not like it is an overly taxing job for a horse.
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Thank you!
@LCDR I thought Charles wanted to streamline the working Royals and do away with some of the tradition? I guess we will have to wait and see.
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The Guards know their horses.
I’ve seen vids where the horse was positively playful with the tourists.
And one where a Guard had to (respectfully) shout “Don’t touch the reins!” to a “touron”*
*term generated for the idjits at Yellowstone who interact with bison 
Anyone mounted in a public place has to control the unhorsey who are drawn like magnets.
Every year at Fair - where barn aisles are open to fairgoer traffic - I see people holding infants/toddlers right up to horses’ faces 
For every parent who asks first if this okay, there are 10 who don’t.
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We were in London, just walking through the Wellington Arch, when we heard the thunder of hooves. We were about to be overtaken by the Household Cavalry. We ducked off to the side and watched them ride through. It was thrilling. I enjoy the traditions around using horses.
Rebecca
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If they are going to stand there, I wish they would put down a rubber mat or something so the horses would have a softer nonslip surface.
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Each horse has a shift of no more than an hour long.
If the horse starts acting up, the guard will push the alarm button & receive help. Often times if the horse is getting worked up, they’ll change it out sooner than the hour.
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During one trip to London I was walking through Hyde Park near their barracks and there’s a riding arena there. One of the guards was doing some dressage schooling with his horse. It was nice to see that they can actually “ride”, and not just parade around.
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The Police also use this area for their schooling. Not sure where their stables are now but in the late 70s it was near Slone Sq. Woke me up every morning I was there
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Rehoming form if you want to give a household cavalry horse an “upgrade” 
.
Think you’ll have to pay shipping costs to the US though.
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That’s an interesting idea. They should certainly quite literally be bombproof.
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Unless there are “dropouts” bring rehomed 
But, I like the idea they go to private homes 
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2DogsFarm I think if a horse washes out of the program, it probably gets sold on as “a horse” since it never made the grade to be a Cavalry horse. Standards are VERY high, not all horses make the grade. The trainers do try many methods to help horse succeed, but sometimes horse is just not suitable or not suitable for the Household Calvalry. Might make a caisson horse or other purpose horse for military uses.
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Total hearsay but I once was told that washing out could be as simple as a horse not being able to stand frequent close clipping. I’m sure that there would be full disclosure for any horse to be re-homed.
Looking at the Household Cavalry webpage here
It says they may help with vets / livery fees in certain circumstances.
I think they’re doing the best they can for their horses.
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Thanks for that video @LCDR. I stopped it at 8 minutes, but have to admit I got teary-eyed around 5 minutes watching how thrilled and excited people were to simple pet a horse.
I was blessed to have indulgent parents who supported my horse-habit (especially my mom, who was supposed to get a pony for her 8th birthday, but the Depression happened). People like us on this board know the power and influence of our equine friends. We are so, so, very lucky.
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Me too on the tears. The tourists seemed starved for what the horses provide. Same energy I’ve seen with mounted policemen (in non-exciting conditions and wildly different energy when things are “exciting”).
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