From ‘zero to hero’ – Cavalry are thrown into the saddle

This is the first in Paper Horse’s series ‘Horse Guards of London’

Joining the Household Cavalry meant Lance Corporal Rees-Jones of the Blues and Royals regiment needed to learn a skill he had minimalist knowledge about – riding a horse.

“I’d ridden a horse a few times before I joined the Army,” he said. “But by ridden, I do genuinely mean, sat there.”

Rees-Jones had probably ‘sat there’ three or four times, before joining up. His sister was the horsey one in the family, but he had never been particularly interested in really learning to ride. In fact, his initial plan for an Army career had been more traditional.

“I knew I wanted to join the army,” he said. “Initially I decided that I wanted to be an armorer, so they would fix weapons and things like that. And then I kind of sat back and thought, ‘Do I really want to do that?’ I decided no.”

Instead he discovered the Household Cavalry and chose to take a very different direction. “I was just deciding what regiment I wanted to go in,” he said. “Then I found the Household Cavalry and decided that, yeah, why not learn to ride a horse?”

Soldiers may initially train in driving tanks and more stereotypical military training. But if they are in a Cavalry regiment, at some point, they are sent to riding boot camp. For Rees-Jones – as with others – learning to ride from scratch was an intensive experience. The initial riding school lasts 14 weeks, with recruits progressing rapidly from the basics to cantering. “It’s very zero to hero,” he said,

Wearing regular riding attire, the early lessons cover the fundamentals such as how to get on and when Rees-Jones was in school four years ago, that came with a twist – riding without stirrups and getting on unaided. “We would walk first,” he said. “And learn, obviously, how to get on. You have to get on without a mounting block. So you have to vault on. And then you would walk around getting used to the very basics – left leg means go right, right leg means go left…”

Progression is fast. “By week three, I was cantering,” he said, still without stirrups. “You got your stirrups in week six, I think, if I remember correctly – it was five or six years ago. You also learn rising trot without stirrups.” Rees-Jones, who is now a qualified BHS [British Horse Society] Instructor, said the training regime has evolved, largely to reduce strain on the horses’ backs. Mounting blocks are provided and riding without stirrups, reduced to a mere three weeks.

Despite the intense training in horse riding, it took time for Rees-Jones to truly feel at ease in the saddle. “I only really got comfortable riding, I can say, probably after I passed out of Kit Ride,” he said referring to the transition from riding gear to uniform. “And it was probably a month after then when I could say ‘Oh, okay, I actually know what I’m doing.’”

He now has the role of instructor for rookie riders in the Blues and Royal Regiment and is conscious of horsemanship education as much as mounted training. Each soldier generally has one horse to pair with. Aesthetically, the horses look very similar and historically were meant to be fearless as well as intimidating when going into battle. They are large – over 16.2 to 17 hands – black in appearance and not necessarily docile.

Rees-Jones was talking having just dismounted from the Changing the King’s Life Guard ceremony in HorseGuards parade in the center of London. His horse – Arthur – had been a little less than compliant. “I’ve known Arthur since he first came to the regiment,” he said of the six-year old who is still learning the ceremonial ropes. “He has his quirks riding but when it comes to stable manners – he’s dopey. He tries kissing you. I have a soft spot for him and so I was willing to deal with whatever he threw at me.” Rees-Jones took Arthur out for the ceremony to give him experience – and he had a moment, which the Lance Corporal handled by walking him out of line formation for a minute. “I knew he wouldn’t necessarily want to stand still,” he said. “So you think ‘What can I do to help him to learn that he has to stand still.'”

Horses remain an integral part of regimental history and continue to carry an important role alongside military equipment. But at the end of the day – they are still horses and treated as such. “They’ve all got different characteristics,” Rees-Jones said. “They’re not robots.”

For more on the Household Cavalry keep a look out for the next story in Paper Horse’s ‘Horse Guards of London’ series.