Page 140 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

146 EAGLE AND CARBINE
Talavera
Regimental Drum Horse 2001–2021
Talavera was our Regimental Drum Horse from 2001 – 2021. Colourful in character and strong willed, she never made it to the parade square unaccompanied excepting for times she was required to stand. She never carried the drums with a marching band without a memorable incident ensuing, but despite in many respects failing, she was a much loved and successful mascot.
Talavera was a cross between an Irish Draught and a Clydesdale. So she had a touch of thoroughbred blood in her somewhere which gave her sparkle. She was sourced from Southern Ireland by our then Colonel of the Regiment Major General Jonnie Hall, with the help of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, and the Regiment was lucky to buy her for a very sensible price. Talavera was the perfect size, black, had good “feathering” around her fetlocks and seemed to have a fairly docile temperament. When she came to the Regiment it was deeply hoped that this side of her would mean that she might be ridden more often and thus we would not suffer the terrible problems heavy horses can have with their feet and lower limbs. The Colonel first saw her in a field somewhere near Hartney Whitney where she stood out (even as he admits – to a non horseman). As a seven year old she had apparently done some Combined Training (Dressage and Show Jumping) as well as Cross Country. She was lovely to ride with a long smooth stride that ‘ate’ the ground, a gliding jump, and a willing turn of speed that drank the wind. And importantly she passed rigorous vetting.
Now carrying the carefully selected name of one of our Battle Honours, our Colonel in Chief, Her Majesty the Queen, graciously agreed to present Talavera to the Regiment in a quiet ceremony held in Hyde Park in 2001. Hyde Park was the logical location because her first posting was to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment where she was to receive training to become a Drum Horse. Back in 2002, it was clear from the outset that she would be a handful, however we pers- ervered despite her lacking the necessary steadiness on parade.
Looking back, as a Regiment we were not well pre- pared to take her on. Our equitation skills across soldiers almost gone; the Regimental stables suffer- ing from persistent squeezes by the MOD on ‘black economy’ employment, and horsemanship no longer a majority skill in the Officers’ Mess. Finding a strong
rider who could be taught to play the kettle drums was a big challenge, but one readily volunteered for by the redoubtable Corporal Harnetty. Somehow we had managed to keep him in our stables as part of MT, driving the Drum Horse Horsebox and as the only knowledgeable groom the Regiment had. Corporal Harnetty had an unexpendable source of courage, but as we quickly found this was not matched by enough depth of experience in the saddle to cope with every- thing Talavera had to offer.
She created a name for herself pulling stunts such as charging out of the centre of the marching band straight towards the ringside fence in an agricultural show, clearing the fence with drums and Corporal Harnetty attached but then becoming entangled in tape somewhere and crushing a drum! It was not long before the safely of Corporal Harnetty and innocent bystanders, our reputation and the health of Talavera all stacked against her, and she was restricted to stand- ing, being discretely led, or parading in full dress but without drums.
Out of uniform, Talavera was a wonderful horse to have around. She lived on and off at Deil Hof, enter- taining the Commanding Officer, and in some cases his ponies.
She was hunted with the Weser Vale, drawing many green tinged comments of admiration, especially as she jumped so well. She was a dream at 0630hrs breaking out onto Bergen-Hohne ranges. The Range Staff, ever teutonic in their attempts to stop such brazen contra- vention of the rules, spent many frustrating hours try- ing to catch both horse and rider red handed, but such was her turn of speed, handiness over rough ground, agility over the numerous dykes, and willingness to go to cover in thick fir stands (despite her considerable size), she was never caught. Less well known is that she did once pull away from her rider in the gloaming at around 0715hrs far into the woods beyond the tar- gets at the end of Ranges 10 and 11 as her mount was on his feet trying to detach his dog from a wild ferret. With first rounds due down the range at 0800hrs, and Talavera last seen about 4 kilometres beyond the firing points, the then Commanding Officer pegged it for the nearest boundary following her foot prints in patches of soft ground, and planning how to explain that he had lost the Regimental Drum Horse. Fortune was riding-out that frosty winter’s morning, and Talavera