Is this a real thing?

[flick]

I just read this re-post from Smoke. (If you didn't know: they're reposting their old magazine articles to their blog on a random and irregular schedule).

It's about semi-wild horses called London (or King's) Rounders, first recorded by Romans, which used to roam around London (two herds, one in each direction) along roughly the route of the M25.

I can't figure out if it's bollocks or not: it includes some snippets that you'd think would be found in other places online (there's a horseshoe buried under each junction of the M25, the horses belonged to the monarch, the fact that there were horses circling London!) but that I can't find any other sources for.

Anyone ever heard of them? Is it just a piece of fiction? I'm leaning to thinking it is, but I'm really bad at judging that kind of thing and it would be very cool, if sad, if it's true.

(Actually, I just can't imagine that they would be allowed to die out if it was true, so I guess it's not. Boo.)

Comments

[pierre-fermat.livejournal.com]

I used to work with people who had designed and built the M25. They told many weird and unlikely stories but I never heard one about horses or horseshoes.

Also my limited knowledge of Roman Britain from wargaming: The Celts had lots of fine horses that they used to ride, and for meat and to pull chariots. Never heard of wild ones, and there wasn't one monarch covering the area. Nor is it mentioned on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_horse_in_Britain#Roman_Britain_to_the_Norman_Conquest

Also, South of London the M25 crosses the North Downs and what was The Great North Wood, not a natural route until we carved chunks out of it and put tarmac down.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

You're another person I thought would know if it was true of not: bah. It's a good story!