My company used to have a killer rate with one of the hotels across the way from the Horse Guards, so I had the pleasure of seeing them from my window when I was there for conferences a few years ago.
Every time I walked by them to get to or from the office, the riders were at attention and the horses were asleep.
I think that it’s great that they exist. Though tourists make me crazy (we get the occasional tourist at our barn that want to stop and feed the horses) it may be the only exposure they have to horses. And the less exposure they have, the fewer opportunities for education, and the fewer opportunities for education, the fewer people who get bitten by the horse bug, and that’s not good for any of us.
I do get annoyed at what people do though.
Like so many other activities, other places, all around the world, standing beside and/or even stroking the cavalry horses seems to have become a social media “thing”. Something to tick off the list. The guards have been there for the past four centuries but Joe Public used to just walk past them. Now tourists push their way into the picture and there is a lot of noise and hysteria. Personally, I do wish there was a barrier between the crowds and the guards because someone is going to get hurt. The general public has no idea how horses behave and even the best, most alert rider can be taken by surprise. There are also police officers in proximity who can intervene when tourists get to out of hand and the troopers have a very close eye kept on them by various members of their squad. Each horse only does one hour before returning to the stables within the building they are guarding. The army does take care of its horses.
Did you watch the whole video you posted?
It looks like the barrier is up only during the changing of the guards at the top of the hour.
You can actually ride in Hyde Park yourself, the stables in Bathurst Mews takes hacks out around the tan and it’s lovely. You ride through London streets to get to Hyde Park, alongside all the traffic, I’ve done it a few times. Book well in advance.
That is too bad. The portable fences certainly help keep folks out of harms way because they are being stupid. Even the best of horses would get annoyed with grabby hands after an hour. No one believes the sign means THEM!! I have done my time dealing with horses and the public, it can be scary. Even horse “knowledgeable” people act ignorant and stupid crowding the animals, carriages or ridden, TRY to get hurt! No personal space given to equines or even getting out of horse’s way. Can’t stop 1400# of forward in half a stride!
DH & I did that 
We rode from Hyde Park Stables.
I cannot recommend enough!
Not only fun riding through streets to the park, but the bridle paths have great footing & most pedestrians are horsewise enough to not be a problem.
Does anyone happen to know if the stables for those horses are open for public tours? That would be a fun thing to see.
The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace are open seasonally for tours …
I’ve never been to the Mews, but I used to walk a lot through a tiny pedestrian lane near Hyde Park Barracks and loved looking up to see horses heads looking out at me from a few floors up in their multi storey barracks there. That’s where the Household Cavalry is based, over 200 horses in the middle of London near Harrods - they are the ones you most often see riding in Hyde Park. They used to hack through the streets of the Basin on the other side of the park, past my flat, one officer riding with a horse ponying each side, in the very early morning - it was always wonderful to see them.
There is a good museum in Horse Guards, the buildings where the “Royal King’s Guards in England” stand on duty. That title drives me nuts as there is so much redundancy in it: obviously not a native speaker.
I went to the Mews last spring. As a horse person I was a bit bummed that we couldn’t see the inner workings of the stables (understandable) but it was pretty darn neat to be a few feet away from the horses that had pulled the carriages at the Coronation the week before. They seem to rotate a few horses in at a time all day so visitors can see them, they were deep in their hay nets when I was there. I did get to see the police horses I’d just walked past in front of Buckingham Palace get a bit of “turnout” in the riding school.
Thanks for the link! I will totally go there if I get to London again. Although I was a tiny bit disappointed to see that the wooden pony for visitors to harness is only for children. Lol.
There is a life sized statue of a horse and rider in Edinburgh Castle that always fascinates me. I don’t recall his name, but the rider is some famous military figure, and the tour guide said that his actions have been viewed very differently by different people over the years.
And the thing that’s interesting to me is that if you look at the horse from one side, he looks perfectly happy and content, but if you stand on the other side and look at him, he looks sort of sour and miserable. So I’ve always wondered if that was done on purpose by the artist to convey the different sides of his rider. 
And because a picture is worth a thousand words:
Happy horse.
Unhappy horse:
Curb chain on his bit that still actually moves in the breeze after a hundred years:
Name of the rider:
Bonus picture of the staircase I had to drag my luggage up to the hotel. Lol.
Your seeing statue horse as “sour” could be a misinterpretation. Myself? I see it as horse listening to his rider with one ear, listening ahead with the forward ear.
Ears like this are very common on Driving horses who usually get lots of vocal commands. Horse is not sour, crabby or unhappy. He just hears better to softer voice with one or both ears rotated to the rear. Ears are not pinned back in anger, just not forward.
Thanks for the pictures, that is a lovely horse and the guy isn’t too bad either! Ha ha Does make me wonder what deeds were rendered to be so grateful for, making this rememberance. Life and death would a big part of it, is my guess.
Haig was the commander of the British Expeditionary British forces in France and Belgium in the first world war - the one that killed millions of men over four years of trench warfare and affected every single family across the UK as well as so many in the Empire. He was a hero for many years, seen as a successful leader who defeated the German aggressor. Note the statue was paid for by an Indian man, at a time when India was still part of the British Empire. Then in the 1960s Haig’s reputation was totally overturned as the focus shifted to the number of people killed and his insistence on futile mass attacks that killed soldiers in their tens of thousands to achieve nothing. “Lions led by Donkeys” was a phrase coined at the time. This was at a time when the Vietnam war was a popular issue and anti-war sentiment was high in Britain. Our Prime Minister resisted American pressure to join in. Australia did. Now, Haig’s reputation is being reassessed again because he probably was a better general than most at the time. He did care for his men and helped them after the war with practical support, setting up the annual Poppy Appeal that still supports ex-service people. So yes, a statue that commemorates a very controversial figure. I’m quite surprised it survived the 1960-70s.
I was thinking the same thing. My horse does that all the time and always with her left ear. She had a sarcoid(?) in that ear at one point and I kept asking her if she could really hear me when she flicked her ear back. It has since been removed.
Let me just add here that the man’s name was not Earl Haig. “Earl” was his title. His name was Douglas Haig, he was the 1st Earl Haig, He was an army field marshal.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
