Mounted Band Photo 1887

On returning home from India and the Sudan in 1884 the regiment were stationed at Aldershot. At the end of March 1887 they transferred to Hounslow. This was the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee so the band would have been kept busy with rehearsals for the Grand Review of troops back at Aldershot in June. It was in this year that the regiment experimented with the new pattern lower busby. The drummer appears to have the old taller pattern while the trombonists have the shorter version. The kettle drums are undressed so that the badge is exposed on this side. Photos taken later, in 1897, show different undressed drums so they must have replaced the ones in this photo at some time in the intervening decade.
The drum horse, recognisable by the white sock on his rear near side leg, is called Bob. He was foaled in 1877 and joined the 7th Dragoon Guards in 1881, serving in Egypt in 1882 as a Troop horse, taking part in the midnight charge at Kassassin. He was wounded in the hind quarters and scarred for life. When the 7th DG went to India in 1884, Bob was handed over to the 10th as a drum horse and remained as ‘Old Bob’ until the Boer War. In this photo he wears a bridle with the same throat plume as the officers, black over white horsehair. This throat plume was worn on officers’ chargers for normal parades, while the cowrie shell bridles were retained for review order. The later photos of Old Bob show him in a cowrie bridle and scarlet shabraque so the drum horse of the 10th had a tradition of copying the officers’ horse furniture.
Other items of interest in this photo are the black sheepskin cover on the saddle which was discontinued in 1896. The round mess tins can be seen on the saddles, behind the rider’s right leg. The white straps on the bandsmens’ right shoulder are for canvas haversacks. This demonstrates that they are in marching order. The nearest musician has a rectangular case on the right front of his saddle to keep sheet music. None of the horses are fitted with stirrup reins so it would seem that the men were not able to play tunes on the march.

Regimental Details | Drumhorses and Trumpeters