Saw this video on the COTH forums and I had to share. If you've been looking at the news at all lately, you probably know there have been massive student protests and riots in London over big tuition hikes for Universities. People even attacked the car that Prince Charles and his wife were riding in.
This link has a video of mounted policemen literally charging into a crowd to disperse the people. It's amazing, the way people just get RIGHT out of the way when a a few thousand pounds of horseflesh come cantering towards them!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11962905
It's incredible, what those horses do. They have face masks, nose guards, and protective boots. I thought it was just horrible that protesters were throwing stuff at the horses, though. Under conditions that would freak out even the most bombproof horse, these guys seem pretty cool, though to a some extent you can see some getting upset. (I would too, if people were screaming and chucking stuff at me!)
I read that none of the horses were injured, but one policeman was pulled off his horse. The saddle slipped to the side and I believe he broke his legs, possibly from the horse stepping on/kicking him as it spooked. I feel very sorry for him and hope he heals up okay.
There's pictures from the whole mess in the next link (some of them are bloody, but none of them are awful).
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/12/london_tuition_fee_protest.html
I'm not usually a "news" blog, but I had to post that video of the charge. The picture of them moving out (#19 on the second link) gave me goosebumps.
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The report I read said that the officer who fell came off after someone shot a firecracker at his horse.
You can see people throwing metal bars at them at the start of the video :( we had some smaller protests where I work - Leeds - but nothing as riotous as that and the police horses on duty didn't have much to do, thankfully. I just feel bad for the horses as people protesting that strongly who will attack police aren't really going to be bothered about hurting a horse either.
Nice to be reminded how scared people are of them though, when you watch them scatter as they CHARGE!
I was watching that the other day as well - it's amazing what they will do for us. The riots are frightening though, especially on the occasions where an officer gets separated from the others and the crowds just go crazy on them. I understand why people are so angry, but attacking an officer is not going to fix it.
As to the officer who came off, I heard someone pulled him and it flipped the saddle - I hadn't heard anything about a firecracker yet.
That's amazing to watch. They really are powerful beasts, I think we forget that too easily.
No comment on the politics of the whole thing, other than I hope it concludes with a minimum of injuries for all parties involved.
I'm actually glad people got out of the way so quickly...I would hate to see any injuries from the horses charging, you know? I guess it's just nice to see that they are so effective at splitting the crowd WITHOUT harming anyone. I do wonder what would happen if someone stayed in the way, though. Hopefully the police officers have enough control to steer around.
Anon - I feel the same. I didn't include a disclaimer, but obviously I am not even slightly involved in the politics to have an opinion. I think this kind of violence sucks, on both sides.
I am just amazed at those brave horses.
Wow..total bravery on the horses side. I'm not sure I would WANT to send my beloved beast into an angry crowd but they do their job well as crowd management.
I feel so sad seeing people throw things at the innocent horses. Yikes.
Thanks for sharing though, interesting.
It really is amazing what they will do for us. Talk about going against every instinct they have...
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