Page 90 - QDG Volume 9 No. 5

88 Equestrian
Sports –
putting the
Cavalry into
Dragoons
There are more horses in Journal 2024
than ever before which is great, because
we are, after all, a cavalry regiment.
Lt Will Asquith led the Waterloo ride
this year – I warned them of the monu-
mental hangover they’d have on Sunday
as they pilgrimed the advance on horse
back under the European May Sun to
the battlefield. The Belgians did not
disappoint. Lt Bella McKenzie and Lt
Mark Johnson led the Military Perfor-
mance Tour on Horse to the Netherlands
this year. Having dressed down at the
direction of the CO I note that their
camouflage not only deprived them of
‘Best Dressed’ award but also no doubt
contributed to them not doing as well as
we did in 2023 in Prince of Wales Order.
There’s a message there, methinks.
Polo – for a regiment that thrives on
‘hating polo’ (see ‘CROP’), the QDG have
done exceptionally well. We not only
fielded the majority of the players on
the inaugural RAC team, but then also
fielded a proper QDG team. The first time
in 4 years! And we won both tourna-
ments to boot. Well done Maj Campbell
for staying on this time; Lt Clark owes me
4 bottles of champagne for every time
he changed down a gear into trot; and I
ended up pinned behind the cantle of the
saddle somehow, in the goal mouth, and
became the laughing stock of the entire
TPC. Had it coming I suppose.
Lastly, the photos of Ex Guardian Spear
will speak to the reader in a way that no
others will. LCpl Wellington leading her
patrol up the slopes (note in the back-
1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
ground someone quite horseless) at the
gallop was a highlight for all troops from A
to C Squadron from their time in Poland.
The excellent collaboration of the Polish
Territorial Defence Forces and Enhanced
Forward Presence [Ed: or whatever it’s
called tomorrow], developing mounted
patrol skills, patrolling the border area
of the Suwalki is extraordinary. Akin to
those pictures we have all grown up with
in our messes and perhaps has a lesson
we can learn about mobility and lethality.
After all – when a horse runs out of fuel
you just point it’s head at the floor and
tell it to eat.
Well done to all, and I have no doubt we
shall see more of the regiment, all ranks,
on horseback being True Dragoons in
2025.
AP
Lt Gamman spent almost a
week getting that mane like that