Every morning at 7am, the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery leaves their St. John’s Wood base for an hour and a half walk through the North West area of London as part of their strict daily routine. Each rider is in charge of three horses, riding one and leading two on either side by hand which makes for quite a sight to behold when they are seen riding down West End Lane in West Hampstead.
The King’s Troop is a part of the Army’s Household Troops and they are best known for their ceremonial gun displays at state occasions such as the Queen’s birthday, Royal Anniversaries and providing a gun carriage and black horses for state funeral processions, such as the funeral of the late Princess Diana.
The unit was originally named The Riding Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery but following a visit to the Troop’s base, King George VI amended the Troop’s visitors book by striking out the word ‘Riding’ and inserting “King’s”. On her accession, Queen Elizabeth II declared that the Troop’s name would remain in honour of her father.
A typical day for the soldiers and horses starts at 6am mucking out the horses and at 7am they leave the base for the horses exercise. Upon their return the horses are fed and the soldiers are given their breakfast, before returning to the horses at 9:15am to give them hay, daily grooming and to sweep the stables. After their 12:30 lunch, the soldiers dedicate their time to cleaning their uniforms, whilst ensuring the horses are fed at 4:30pm and 6:30pm.
The King’s Troop men and women are all trained primarily as fighting soldiers. Up to six of these soldiers can be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan at any one time. Soldiers joining the Troop spend the first three to four years working as Mounted Gunners before they can be employed as saddlers, farriers, vehicle drivers, tailors, storemen or orderlies.
After 64 years at their St John’s Wood base, The King’s Troop are sadly moving 15 miles away to another base in Woolwich in 2012 after their lease with the Eyre Estate runs out. Due to increasing rent, they are no longer able to stay in the place where they originally formed. The familiar sound of the horses clip-clopping down the street will be sorely missed by residents who have grown used to hearing and seeing them walk by every day.
West Hampstead News
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