SIR - It was devastating to see multiple horses running scared through Central London on Wednesday, after bolting from training with the Household Cavalry. This shocking incident has triggered national conversation - why are horses still being used for ceremonial purposes when the impacts are so harmful?

A horse’s role within the Household Cavalry is purely for spectacle and show; they are used ornamentally. Similarly, horses are exploited in cities across the world to pull carriages for tourists, despite mass campaigning for a ban. Collisions which harm both humans and horses are common, and yet the abuse continues.

Using animals for human amusement - which, at its core, is why horses are used by the Household Cavalry - is simply unacceptable. It is difficult to comprehend the panic and fear those horses must have felt on Wednesday, racing through a city so alien from the natural environment they should be living in.

Let this be an opportunity to effect real change. City centres are no place for horses, and horses are not objects for humans.

Fiona Pereira, Campaign Manager, Animal Aid