Page 206 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
every month or six weeks and become very much used to having it done.” To the ‘soldier horse,’ it’s just another day at the forge.
Link with the Worshipful Company of Farriers
Some Army farriers – there were more than thirty at the time of the 1967 Corps competition – were also members of the Worshipful Company of Farriers while others were aiming for the much-coveted membership. The relationship between the Company and the School had always been close and borne out of mutual respect for an ancient and honourable craft.11 When the Company agreed to test Army farriers for membership at the School, and send its own apprentices on two-week training courses, the two bodies became inextri- cably linked. Indeed, the Company paid for the prizes at the Melton Mowbray competition
On 29th September 1977, the RAVC was granted the Freedom of the Borough of Melton Mowbray and the School played a unique role when it came to a gift to its home town. A parade was held at Egerton Park before Major General Peter Leng, the Colonel Commandant, who accepted the honour which was granted in recognition of the Corp’s long association with the township. Councillor D Smart, Mayor of Melton Mowbray, was presented with a scroll and standard to mark occasion while the Corps presented a gift of a wrought iron bench, constructed by farriers from the School which was given pride of place in the grounds of St Mary’s Church.12 The wrought iron bench was completely refurbished and reinstalled in 2018 as part to the Corps Centenary celebrations and still resides in the churchyard at St Mary's.
During the 1970s the School of Farriery continued to lend its expertise to assist Armies in other nations, including two soldiers from the Moroccan Army who attended from 30th January to 21st April 1978.13 It was a decade that saw the School preparing for the implementation of the 1979 Farriers Act14 which came fully into force that year in England, Wales, and Scotland. The RAVC was also making its presence felt in competition with a 5th place gained in the Inter- national Shoeing competition held at Stoneleigh.15 And on home territory the Melton Mowbray War Memorial gates (constructed by men of the Army School of Farriery) opened to welcome the first
11 Soldier Magazine dated July 1967.
12 DAVRS Historical Record 1977.
13 D/DAVRS/13/12. Assistance to Foreign Governments.
14 Chiron Calling Issue 11th April 1979.
15 Chiron Calling Issue 12th October 1979.
16 Chiron Calling November 1988.
17 Chiron Calling Winter 1993/4.
18 Annex B to RHQ H Cav 2003A dated 28th May 1987.
visitors to pass through.16 And Farrier Sergeant Ivan Bell was granted a Fellowship with Honours by the Worshipful Company of Farriers – the first of its kind to be awarded to either an Army or a civilian farrier for twenty years.17
During the mid 1980s, the author recalls a tale when a certain Farrier LCpl, of Welsh heritage whose name is omitted to save his blushes. When having some time to spare in the forge, which did not occur very often, he rather than do nothing, set about diligently washing and giving the farriers’ steel kettle and the huge china tea mugs a good clean! His colleagues were far from amused, as I don’t believe they had ever been washed before, it was cited it gives added flavour to the brew and besides we are too busy to wash them. He was almost banished to another part of the RAVC Training Centre for his heinous act.
Household Cavalry Connections
Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) documents dated 28th May 1987,18 list the responsibilities of the Regiment’s farriers as: the maintenance of the shoeing state of two hundred and fifty horses and veterinary dressing under the supervision of the RVO. However, this could only have been undertaken by civilian farriers due to stipulations made in the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1949 which made it clear where the farriers’ duties ended and the veterinary surgeons’ began. This interesting document is something of a window on the past in the way that it details the almost daily duties of the HCR farrier as one which includes the provision of a farrier orderly to conduct routine First Aid during 24-hour periods, and the need to be present at reveille, at the stables, at 0630 to check for injures and loose shoes. The job also required an amount of time ‘on the road’ travelling with the Quadrille/ Musical Ride to maintain the shoeing state and provide veterinary First Aid, whenever the horses were detached from their Knightsbridge ‘home.’ In the summer and winter, this meant attending shows such as the Royal Windsor Horse Show where the HCR has been traditionally involved with riding displays. In a role that involved so many aspects of horse welfare, the farrier job description, within the Household Cavalry, took in several duties that didn’t involve a hammer or anvil such as the supervision of sick horses
198