Operation Birthday Surprise: The Military Horse Parade Celebrating A Very Special Birthday

Planning for this special operation had been going on for months, and today horse riders from the Defence Animal Training Regiment pulled off a very special 100th birthday surprise.

Joan Hart, the birthday girl, was treated to a military horse parade right outside her front door after the team at Melton Mowbray learned just how much the place meant to her.

Joan’s connection to the horses goes back to her childhood when her father was asked to write the horses names on their stables because of his extraordinarily neat handwriting. Since then, Joan has visited the horses every Sunday to admire the animals and her father’s hand work.

Living just round the corner from the stables, Joan expressed her delight in watching the horses often ride past her house, knowing this the team hatched the plan to surprise her on her centenary.

When asked about the preparations, WO1 Stu Rowles, RMS, Royal Army Veterinary Corps said that they had all got in a little early to be made ready and tacked up. It was his hope that Joan would come out of her house, “see the horses coming from the distance and make her day”.

Without a doubt, Joan’s day was made. When Forces News asked her about the surprise parade she said:

“I couldn’t have wished for anything better than that, there’s nothing better than that – it’s wonderful”.

It wasn’t just a parade either, the horse riders also serenaded Joan with a chorus of ‘happy birthday’ and a birthday cake.