Blood-soaked cavalry horses running through London is the perfect way to sum up 2024

Blood-soaked cavalry horses on the loose is the perfect way to sum up 2024.

When London was brought to a standstill by a herd of rampaging military horses last week, it was perhaps inevitable that talk of portents and omens would quickly take hold. With Big Ben’s clock having stopped at around the same time, there was a degree of excitement about the end being nigh.

Much of that chatter on social media had tongue firmly in cheek. And so far, the sky doesn’t seem to have fallen in – except perhaps for the Scottish National Party and Liverpool FC. Nevertheless, given the chaotic state of Britain in 2024, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the sight of a bloodied grey charger hurtling along Aldwych led some people to wonder – even in jest – what it might presage.

After all, just the day before, Rishi Sunak and Grant Shapps had been in Poland, announcing an increase to defence funding that would put the UK on a “war footing”. Leading a cavalry charge to Shadwell probably isn’t what they had in mind, but perhaps poor Vida and Quaker took them at their word.

The idea that we should be ready for conflict may not be fundamentally unreasonable, and it certainly provided a brief distraction from the varied muddles and disasters that have beset Britain under the present government (and its various, previous iterations). The last six years have given us Brexit, a pandemic, four prime ministers, rampant inflation, rising interest rates, culture wars (real or imagined), multiple parliamentary scandals, corporate outrages, public sector pay disputes, and a terrible final season of Line of Duty. Some on the political right seem to think it’s a mortal sin to “talk Britain down”; but there isn’t a huge amount on the credit side to shout about. Bazball, I suppose – though that’s part New Zealand.

Even if we put our own woes to one side for a moment, the global picture is hardly a great deal rosier. We have got war in eastern Europe, conflagration in the Middle East, climate change causing increasingly extreme weather events, and the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.

So, are we headed for an apocalypse? It’s certainly hard not to feel anxious from time to time, but maybe it’s possible to take a more optimistic view: not that the out-of-control nags were a sign of impending doom, but “merely” a symbol of our present, rock-bottom condition – and an indicator that, from such depths, the only way is up. Vida and Quaker are, if you like, the 2024 equivalent of Gareth Southgate missing his penalty in the Euro ’96 semi-final shoot-out. Things could only get better then too – and they did (for a bit, anyway).

And actually, even in the last couple of days we’ve had good news about the King’s cancer treatment, so perhaps this is the start of the upward trend – even if the curve might be shallow, and with the odd bump along the way.

As for those hurt in last week’s incident, it appears that all human injuries are on the mend, while three of the horses that initially bolted are well on the road to recovery. Concern remains about Vida – the grey whose torso was left crimson as a result of lacerations – and Quaker, although army officials have offered repeated assurances that they are getting the best treatment possible.

Let’s hope they pull through, even if they are unlikely to return to their military duties. Should that be their lot, there will surely be plenty of opportunities for a career change, such is their level of celebrity. Lloyds Bank, for instance, are presumably always on the lookout for new stars to appear in their not-at-all-creepy ads.

In fact, what could be better than seeing Vida and Quaker promoting a leading financial institution in the midst of a future economic boom, when a new government has sorted out the railways, got a grip on the NHS, and got us on a pathway to proper carbon neutrality? From uncontrollable also-rans to internationally renowned thoroughbreds – that’s a transformation we’d all like to see.