Huge crowds are expected when Army horses pull coffin to Westminster Hall

Background

Horses that will pull the late Queen’s coffin are having flowers and flags thrown at them in preparation for the ceremonial procession and state funeral.

Troops are pretending to sob and throwing Union flags and flowers on the floor to prepare them for the huge crowds that will line the streets of central London to pay their respects.

Wednesday’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall will see horses pulling the coffin, which is to be pulled by sailors at the funeral itself on Monday.

To the front left of the animals, Sgt Tom Jenks, 30, will be riding Cassius - the designated “number one” horse and also overseeing the “gun team”.

Speaking at Wellington Barracks after an early-morning rehearsal for the procession, Sgt Jenks said: “The horses go through preparation and training, so they get taken away after we’ve been training normally for our daily routines and they get exposed to loud noises, flags, flowers, people sobbing or making different noises.

“We try to do it regularly, like once every couple of months with the horses. They’ve always been constantly exposed to it so it’s never an imminent surprise.

“Even to the point [of] banging loads of drums [and] making aggressive noises in case of anything that could arise.”

Cassius, 18, takes part in his final public event on Monday after a distinguished 12-year career that saw him participate in Margaret Thatcher’s funeral in 2013.

Sgt Jenks said: “He’s retiring after this parade and he was not kept on especially, but we couldn’t retire him just until we had another horse of his establishment to be able to replace him.

“So it’s quite timely and fitting that he gets to retire doing this job.”

Some of the horses have initially struggled to adapt to the pace required for the procession and funeral because it is so slow, Sgt Jenks added.

“They’ve struggled to actually slow [themselves] down, and it’s quite a tall order to ask them to walk at a slow march pace.

“At normal parades they’ve done it based on a horse’s natural walking pace, so we’re trying to halve it against that.”

Lance Bombardier Tara Kelly, 25, has been in the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery for the past four years and will be the wheel driver guiding the gun carriage down its route in the mounted procession on Wednesday.

She described it as a “massive honour to be part of such a prestigious event” and said she felt “humbled” to represent the King’s Troop.

Lance Bombardier Kelly also took part in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and was part of the procession for the Duke of Edinburgh’s royal ceremonial funeral in April 2021.

Asked about how the horses have coped with rehearsals to date, she replied: “They have been amazing – they have not put a foot wrong, bless them.

“They have worked so hard and they just keep excelling every day. They all got pulled out their stables and loaded onto a horse box. They just do it, they are so great.

“We’ve got to match the correct horses to the job and the role that they’re currently doing. You wouldn’t want, for example, a bit of a skittish horse near the massive main procession. So it’s just matching up and making sure that a horse is capable of the job in hand.”

The Telegraph

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