Sefton the Horse
Sefton the Horse was born in July of 1963 in Ireland. He was taken at 4 years old to be inspected by Army Purchasing Commission who picked him up right away. At training, he was considered a difficult horse and was chosen to join the Blues and Royals in Germany in 1969. He joined the Weser Vale Hunt where he excelled and then began competing in show jumping, earning prize money for the army.
In 1975 he was chosen to be sent to England to join the Household Calvary. He also continued to compete up until 1980 when he retired from show jumping. On the 20th of July 1982, Sefton was walking with 15 other horses in his regiment for the Changing of the Guard. As the procession proceeded down South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park, a IRA nail bomb detonated. The flying nails hit both the horses and their riders with brutal force. Seven of the horses were considered too wounded to be saved. Sefton was badly wounded in the attack but he kept his calm stance in order to not throw his rider.
Sefton was rushed back to the barracks where veterinary officer Major Noel Carding did his best to save the horse as they waited for civilian veterinarians to arrive and assist. Sefton had a severed jugular vein, a wounded left eye, and 34 other serious wounds. It took 8 hours of surgery to patch up the horse – a length of time that was previously unheard of for surgery on a horse. He was given a 50/50 chance of survival but the strong horse pulled through. He was showered with gifts and mints, there were even enough donations given in his name that the Royal Veterinary College was able to build a new surgical wing, the Sefton Surgical Wing.
Sefton returned to his duties for another two years before retiring in 1984. He then lived at the Home of Rest for Horses until his death in 1993 at the age of 30. Sefton, the heroic horse was immortalized in bronze.