Page 11 - DATR 2019

Equine Training Squadron (ETS)
In 1904 the estate you stand on now was procured by the then War Department to be used as Remount Depot No 3. Around 2500 horses and mules were held in the surrounding fields in the build up to WWI. At the outbreak of WWI the British Army had approximately 25,000 Military Working Horses (MWH), within six months this escalated to 500,000, and many of those animals would have passed through this Remount Depot. The Army Remount Service was set up in 1887 to ensure the uniformity, suitability and training of the animals (horses, mules and pack ponies) purchased for the Army and this continued until 1942.
This role has not changed much as ETS is responsible for the procurement of MWH for use on public duties for both the Household Cavalry and the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and for the horses here to enable us to train our students. The public duty arena is the DATR’s most visual
advertisement for horse procurement, with the finished product at the heart of all UK state occasions. Within ETS are two schools, the Army School of Equitation and the Army School of Farriery.
The Army School of Equitation is responsible for the training and development of all military riding instructors and horse trainers across the Army. These instructors are responsible for training every horse and person you see riding on all state occasions. Having such a close relationship with the world-renowned British Horse Society enables us to have both military and civilian qualifications for all instructors when they leave here. There are approximately 52 riding instructors in the British army, who serve the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, the Household Division and the Defence Animal Training Regiment (DATR). The horses here at the DATR are exercised every day for a minimum of an hour in a
SSgt Lisa Leighton riding MWH Kaito showing everybody how it should be done in the Senior Derby at the Royal Tournament
Defence Animal Training Regiment | 11