Musical Ride
Many of the recruits have not even been on a horse before joining the Household Cavalry. Some of them only train for 18 weeks before performing their historic display, the Musical Ride, whose discipline and teamwork prepares them for operational duties.
The Musical Ride of the Mounted Regiments of the Household Cavalry was first performed at the Royal Tournament in 1882. The two trumpeters sitting on grey horses were historically intended to form a contrast with the darker horses, so that they could be seen on battlefields relaying officers' commands to the troops. The troops weave around the trumpeters and the celebrated drumhorse, Spartacus.
The Ride is now performed annually at the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo as part of the Windsor Royal Horse Show each May.
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Famous quotes containing the words musical and/or ride:
“I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear
With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear
Such gallant chiding; for besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seemed all one mutual cry. I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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—D.H. (David Herbert)