Boot and Saddle by JG Gilberd

Kings Troop, RHA - Administration

The Troop is administered by Troop HQ which is made up of the C.O., Adjutant, RSM, supported by the RQMS, Chief Clerk and their respective staffs. There is a 'staff employed section' headed by the Troop Captain (2 I/C); this group includes farriers, fitters, wheelwrights, tailors, cooks and the like.

The Troop on Parade

When on parade there are five Officers, 48 soldiers, 71 horses and six 13-pr guns.

The Musical Drive

During the summer the Troop performs the musical drive at the Royal Tournament and at various agricultural shows and military tattoos. The Drive has also been performed abroad. It is an exciting and spectacular display of horsemanship carried out at the gallop, culminating in the dangerous scissor movement when the teams cross in the centre of the area with no visible gap between them. Six 13-prs plus 36 horses take part.

Mountain Gunner

From Rudyard Kipling's, 'Screw Guns'

"Smokin' my pipe on the mountings, sniffin' the morning cool,
I walks in my old brown gaiters, along o' my old brown mule
With seventy Gunners behind me, an' never a beggar forgets
It's only the pick of the Army that handles the dear little pets."

Tailpiece

So ends my abridged version of 'Boot and Saddle. There is much more to be told of the lives and times of the Horse Soldiers and their 'long-faced friends'. Perhaps at another time we may continue the story.

Jim Gilberd
Napier
April 1990.

CONCLUDED

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