Goodnight, Aden

It is with great sadness that we bring the news of the passing of our dear retired Household Cavalry horse, Aden, at 28 years old. 

Aden retired to our Home of Rest for Horses in the summer of 2016 after dedicating an impressive 17 years of his life as a Life Guard trumpeter. During Aden’s career he took part in all major ceremonial events including the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, and several Birthday parades.

Aden was described as an extremely reliable and loyal horse who treated his riders with great respect and care. Throughout Aden’s working life, he participated in the annual Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Training Camp, where the Regiment take part in a range of activities including show jumping, cross country and beach rides. This is something that Aden really enjoyed; swimming, splashing around in the water and getting his riders extremely wet in the process!

When Aden reached retirement age, we of course opened our arms and welcomed him to our sanctuary, set in the peaceful Chiltern Hills. After dedicating over half of his life to serving in the HCMR, it was our absolute pleasure to give Aden our five-star treatment and care.

Aden was no different to his other grey friends here at our sanctuary in that he loved getting as muddy as possible when he could! Often, we would find Aden disguised as a Cavalry Black after he spotted a wet muddy patch and had a good roll around – much to the dismay of our grooms! Aden became best friends with HCMR retiree, Aquaba who we would often find paired together. Aden and Aquaba did everything together and no doubt he will be missed dearly by his friend.

Aden was fortunately able to enjoy many years of retirement in his forever home with us. He did suffer from chronic arthritis in his knees, which was successfully managed for a long time; however, over the last few weeks of his life our grooms noticed that he had started to struggle bending his legs when having his feet picked out and when seeing the farrier. Sadly, this also impacted his ability to lie down and get up too. Unfortunately, medication was no longer effective and to prevent him suffering even more, the difficult decision was made that the most ethical thing was to say our last goodbyes to dear Aden.

Aden touched the hearts of all our Horse Trust team, and we are so saddened to say goodbye to our dear friend. Aden was a true gentleman, and we thank him for his service and dedication to the Household Cavalry. Aden brightened up our days and we will not get over the huge loss of our friend for some time. Our fields won’t be the same without you, Aden. We are comforted that you are now pain-free and happy galloping over the rainbow bridge.

The Horse Trust relies on public donations to continue to give a forever home to retired military, police, Royal Mews and RDA horses and to care for neglected rescued horses. If you would like to be part of our story, please consider a donation today.

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