Horses on Holiday: Household Cavalry Horses Were on Vacation When Queen Elizabeth Died

Mar. 15, 2025

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.Photo: Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty

Thestate funeralforQueen Elizabeth II, along with the over a mile-long procession that followed from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, involved over 6,000 U.K. military members. Many were stationed across the country and world and had to be flown back to London for the occasion. The pallbearers, the eight soldiers who carried the Queen’s coffin, for example, hailed from the Queen’s Company, the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. They were working in Iraq when the Queen died and had to fly to London immediately.

The same rang true for the animals who are part of the army.

PEOPLE has learned that around 60 horses who are part of the Household Cavalry, the division that historically protects the sovereign and played a prominent role in the procession, were on vacation whenQueen Elizabethdied.

The summer is the busy season for the horses in the Household Cavalry. In early June, they participated inTrooping the Colour, the parade of 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians who came together to mark the Queen’s official birthday. The rest of the summer, they performed ceremonial tasks like changing of the guards for the tourists who flock through the U.K.’s capital.

But the accommodations in Hyde Park Barracks in London are cramped, and they don’t get much space to move around.

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.Loic Venance - WPA Pool/Getty

The horses in the Household Cavalry primarily come from farms in Ireland, with whom the British army has a special relationship. The drum horses are English bred.

The horses are named after they go from training into the regiment. Each year their names start with a new letter. The army just completed “W.”

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty

WhenQueen Elizabethdied, many of the horses were brought back to participate in the funeral procession before their holiday resumed.

On the Monday of the Queen’s state funeral, the horses got to run around Hyde Park for an hour starting at 7 a.m. to get out any jitters they might have before the big day.

“The horses do get excited about this kind of stuff. They are keen to go for a gallop, and they need to be steadied down,” said one soldier. “They can sense this is a big day.”

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Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty

The procession lasted over an hour and a half, and the horses had to walk 75 beats per minute.

Only one horse stationed at the Queen’s Horse Guards acted up on Monday. The procession paused to let the animal calm down before it proceeded through a narrow gate.

source: people.com