Page 32 - Mind, Body & Spirit Number 104 2020/21

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www.raptcassociation.org.uk
HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY MOUNTED REGIMENT (HCMR)
Sgt (SI) M Evans RAPTC
The Household Cavalry has a constant daily ceremonial requirement to HM the Queen. The Regiment itself is made up of two Cap badges; The Royal Horse Dragoon Guards (RHD/G) more commonly known as the Blues and Royals and the Life Guards (LG). Both Cap badges merge together to form the Household Cavalry.
HCMR has a daily commitment to Queens Life Guards (QLG) in which a soldier’s kit must be of the highest standard, after hours of work spent cleaning not just their personal kit, but also the horses, they are given permission by the Orderly Officer to commence their ride down to Whitehall to conduct their daily ceremonial tasks. Many individuals have no equine experience before joining the Household Cavalry, but an intensive 14 weeks at riding school provides them with the skills needed to become competent riders.
Joining HCMR in April 20 means I have spent the duration of my time in London District in a national lockdown, it wasn’t quite what I had envisaged for my move from the ASPT, but it certainly has been a swift learning curve. As I’m sure you will all agree, we have faced challenges and obstacles which we wouldn’t of dreamt of facing, but have overcome these and developed new strategies to support the maintenance of the Army’s fitness.
If taking over as HCMR RAPTCI during the first UK lockdown may have been challenging enough, I was soon made aware of the Regimental commitments that would make delivering a successful PT programme very difficult indeed. The excitement of working in Knightsbridge and delivering PT sessions on Hyde Park was soon squashed when the Regiment were working with skeleton manning, sending the majority of personnel and horses on dispersed leave. To the soldiers themselves this may have been seen as a welcomed break to their normally hectic daily routine, but to someone who was excited at the prospect of delivering a successful PT programme, it just became extremely difficult with half the regiment on leave and the other half keeping up the daily care and maintenance of the horses. With the Regiment on leave, the Lone Soldier Training programme became a vital tool in maintaining the Regiment’s fitness, it also allowed me the opportunity to reinvigorate the Regiments training facilities.
With the national lockdown easing, and more restrictions being lifted, HCMR are slowly resuming ceremonial duties, and returning to some sort of normality. Looking forward, the Regimental commitments are coming thick and fast, with work already started in preparation for the Queen’s Birthday Parade, Major General’s
The Foundational Movement Patterns play a key role in the Regiment’s PT Programme
Inspection, The Richmond Cup and the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
Annually in July, HCMR partake in a Regimental Training Camp, which takes place in Bodney Camp, Norfolk. This gives the Regiment the opportunity to de-stress and unwind in picturesque surroundings. It allows us, as a PD department to conduct annual MATT 2 testing, but more importantly, to deliver sports competitions and daily PT, which will be welcomed after a year of predominantly solo training.
With my first year at HCMR coming to a close, it has certainly been an experience serving at a Regiment with such imbedded traditions and history, whilst juggling a year that will go down as the year we all “stayed at home”! I look forward to seeing what the next year has in store for all at HCMR and the wider Field Army.
Members from both Squadrons riding in Hyde Park Barracks, Knightsbridge
Soldiers from HCMR conducting drills within Hyde Park Barracks