<b>The Ride, the British Army's elite equine display team, has been thrilling spectators for more than a century with its precision drills. </b><i>Jonny Beardsall</i><b> visits the regiment at its London base as it prepares to wow audiences in Abu Dhabi. Photographs by </b><i>Peter Dench.</i> The lie-down is an inscrutable manoeuvre. In a sand arena metres from the hugger-mugger of London's West End, Lance Corporal of Horse Tim Puddifoot, 24, of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment's Musical Ride, eases Yeti's head around by the right rein until his muzzle touches his right boot. He then slips from the saddle, lifts his mount's foreleg and gently eases the horse to the ground. It rewinds to an age when cavalry could move quickly into enemy territory and with this tactic disappear. It will enthral audiences in Abu Dhabi when the Ride makes its debut at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (Adihex) later this month. The Ride, which performs fast-moving cavalry-drill movements set to music, first appeared at the Royal Tournament in 1882. But for the soundtracks, little has changed in more than a century. It is a display team without parallel seen at shows all over Britain in the summer. Only occasionally does it perform in other countries. This is why the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) was so energised when the trip was mooted 18 months ago. It will be the first time the Ride's 28 horses and 36 soldiers have performed outside Europe, so cavalrymen and the people of the UAE alike have much to look forward to. "Part of the purpose of Adihex is to build bridges between different equine traditions, and the visit of the Household Cavalry is a significant milestone for us," says Abdulla al Qubaisi, the director of communications. "The many horse lovers in the UAE have always admired the vitality and depth of horse culture in Britain. The equestrian links between our two countries continue to grow, and the crowds are bound to be impressed by the standard of horsemanship. Of course, the cultural ties between the UK and the UAE are strengthening in all sorts of other ways, too, as fans of Manchester City Football Club will appreciate." Abdul Rahman al Mutaiwee, the UAE's ambassador in London, concurs: "The UAE and the UK have long shared a huge respect for each other's cultures and traditions. Both our royal families enjoy a passion for the horse, so our country is looking forward to hosting the Musical Ride. But while the UAE Land Forces have no mounted troops, military ties with the British Army also run deep; both Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It is 6.30am when I meet Captain Ed Olver, 28, in Hyde Park Barracks, Knightsbridge, six weeks before he flies to the emirate. He is the Musical Ride Officer - the man commanding the Ride - and also the regiment's adjutant. The grandson of a Spitfire pilot who won two DFCs (Distinguished Flying Cross), he has panache; a tall, dark, handsome politics graduate who isn't nervous of journalists. Put him in civilian clothes and you'd be pushed to take him for an army officer. "I describe my guys as the equestrian equivalent of the Red Arrows," he begins, as he marches me between the traffic and across the tree-lined road to where Puddifoot and his fellow riders are rehearsing on the southern edge of the park. But given he is the Ride Officer, doesn't he need to be doing the same on Eliza, the officer's charger he will take to Abu Dhabi? Does each performance not hang on his precise commands? He laughs out loud, which he does often, and pushes a dollop of wavy hair back under the peak of his forage cap. "No, words of command are pretty irrelevant because the guys know exactly what to do? it's a bit like synchronised swimming," he says. Olver is the impetus behind the trip. When he was appointed two years ago, he found a supporter in General the Lord Guthrie, a former chief of the defence staff who is Colonel of the Life Guards. "Lord Guthrie still likes to ride in the park," says Olver. "Whenever I was able to go with him, I would walk a lot because if we trotted the time would fly by and there'd be less time for his stories. He's a fascinating man." The 71-year-old retired soldier had asked if he had any plans. Olver said he wanted to take men and horses to Arabia. Guthrie promised his unwavering support. "Ed Olver has drive and has had to overcome many obstacles," the general says. "For many years there have been close links between our two armies and, given our shared love for the horse, this is a splendid opportunity to cement such links even further." Olver, the son of expatriate parents, grew up in the UAE with an affinity for the people. "I'm constantly taken with the country's ambition and enthusiasm. I thought it would be great to go. I adore its understanding of itself, particularly the desire to showcase, protect and harness its own culture," he says. During a display, the Ride is made up of the Musical Ride Officer, the drum horse, four trumpeters, four rough riders - who perform drills such as the lie-down - and 16 outriders, all of them mounted. The officer, the rough riders and outriders all ride glossy dark bays, known as Cavalry Blacks; the drum horse and trumpeters' Greys are more showy. The drum horse is always piebald, skewbald or roan in colour and because it is enormous and has feet the size of dinner plates, is considered the star of the show. The regiment has four and each is named after a character from Greek mythology. When carrying the silver drums, they attain the rank of major so are saluted by soldiers. "I think Achilles will be the one making the trip," says Olver, pointing to a piebald gelding with a long mane and tail and long feathery fetlocks that look like moon boots. "If we want to pull their manes and tails or trim them up we need permission from the Queen," he says, without expanding further. When performing, the Ride members wear the full ceremonial uniform of heavy breast plates and plumed helmets worn by the rest of the regiment, but carry lances instead of swords. The rough riders, however, wear stable dress, which is less constricting, enabling them to demonstrate traditional cavalry skills such as the lie-down. Rough riders are as fit as salukis. "It can take six months to teach a horse to lie down," says Puddifoot. "If it resists, we'll know straight away that it doesn't like it. If it gives you a little, we know it is going to work in time. We never force them." He is confident that the five 18-minute displays they will give in Adnec's air-conditioned indoor arena will be faster and slicker than ever before. "We've brought in 12 new horses, which are more lively and on the ball. Unlike the older ones that know the routine, the younger ones need riding and don't anticipate the movements," he says. No matter how often the Ride performs, he says the hairs on the back of his neck always stand up. "It's the gallop-out that does it for me," he says, describing how the four rough riders wait until the others have left the arena at the close of a performance. "I go last, usually on Yeti. The trumpeters sound the 'charge' and off we go with the Union flag punched out at full gallop to the strains of Hope And Glory. It's fantastic; I get to do the best bit." Most in the Ride are troopers in their early 20s. "They're selected because they look good on a horse and are administratively strong," says Olver. We watch the group split into two sections. At a brisk trot, again and again they perform the complex double-propeller sequence under the gaze of Captain Mark Avison, 44, the Riding Master, or RM, which is the regiment's most comprehensible abbreviation. The RM is the regiment's equestrian expert. "I joined at 16 and have been here all the time on the riding staff," he says, keeping one eye on the men and horses making yet more precise circles in the sand. He was a young soldier in the stables on July 20, 1982, when an IRA car bomb killed two members of the regiment and seven horses just outside the barracks. In the immediate aftermath, a gelding named Sefton was found with 28 injuries and miraculously survived. "I eventually buried him in 1993," he says. As you watch the men skittering around in changing formations, it is easy to forget they have more than a decorative role. Far from it; Olver and most members of the Ride have shown sustained courage serving in Iraq and Afghanistan because the Household Cavalry is greater than the sum of its parts. Made up of squadrons from the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, the two oldest and most senior regiments in the Army, they form two different units equipped to perform quite different roles. One is the Household Cavalry Armoured Regiment in Windsor, which has an armoured reconnaissance role in conflicts, while at Knightsbridge, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is the Queen's personal bodyguard. Most officers and men rotate between the two units. As able in a light tank as they are in the saddle, they are arguably some of the most versatile soldiers in the British Army. Hyde Park Barracks is the brick and concrete edifice designed by Sir Basil Spence in the 1960s. The entrance pediment, which came from the riding school of the 1880 barracks that this building replaced, suggests that the regiment's home was once much grander. Standing to attention between South Carriage Drive and Knightsbridge, the multi-storey stables are home to as many as 240 Cavalry Black horses, 14 Greys and four drum horses, as well as 300 officers and men. The soldiers work a six-day week. Up at 5am, the men will be in the stables an hour later, feeding, mucking-out and grooming. Some will be preparing mounts and putting the finishing touches to ceremonial kit for the daily change-of-guard duties about two kilometres away on Horse Guards Parade off Whitehall. "You'd be pushed to find anyone in London who works harder than a Household Cavalry trooper," says Olver, as we make our way across the regimental square to the stables. Horses live on two levels; a Life Guards squadron occupies the ground floor while a ramp leads to the Blues and Royals on the first floor. I meet Viking, a strapping gelding tied up outside his stall while a trooper mucks out. Olver unties him. "Watch this," he says, with boyish enthusiasm, before producing a mint from his pocket. Rubbing the horse's nose, he waits as it rolls back its lips, bares its teeth and gives him a kiss before accepting the sweet. The Army buys the Blacks in southern Ireland as unbroken four- and five-year-olds. Their breeding is normally three-quarter Irish draught and one-quarter thoroughbred, ideally standing more than 16.2 hands, with plenty of bone and substance. Eight farriers work in the basement below the stables, shouting to make themselves heard above the roar of four gas-powered hearths and the clang of steel being heated white-hot and forged into shoes. "We're horrible and dirty," jokes Corporal of Horse Peter McThune, 38, the second-in-command here. "This place is the warmest in the barracks in winter because the fires are always on. A horse can get through a set of shoes in a month, so we'll be shoeing 80 to 100 horses a week. It's non-stop." They once had fearsome reputations but are now the primary healthcare service if a horse goes lame: "They were seen as natural disciplinarians because you can take the wildest horse into a forge and he'd behave perfectly for these men. Because of this, soldiers found them quite intimidating. It's not the case nowadays." Everywhere preparations for Abu Dhabi continue apace: tailors put finishing touches to uniforms; saddlers make repairs to bridles; and storemen record and pack boxes of priceless ceremonial kit. Major Warren Douglas, 44, is the quartermaster. "I'm trying to find enough lightweight shirts and breeches for the lads and summer flysheets for the horses," he says. If he's stuck he can always ask Corporal Major Malcolm Hadden, 53, the forage master. "I've been in Knightsbridge for 22 years. Right now I'm arranging for the Ride to fly out with 17 tons of feed." In the officers' mess on the first floor there is a genteel shabbiness. Large rooms with high ceilings, metal-framed windows and utilitarian ministry of defence furniture are gentrified with the regiment's own property: oil paintings of the worthy and the brave; occasional tables and desks arranged with sculptures in silver; bronzes that recall past glories; leather-bound books that tell the regiment's 400 years of history; and modern carpets scuffed by the footfalls of gentlemen in leather-soled shoes. In a dining room, a civilian waitress takes last-minute orders for breakfast. A cavalry officer fights not on muesli, but on eggs, fried bread, sausages, tomato and baked beans with freshly squeezed orange juice and percolated coffee. In an adjoining ante-room, doors open to a balcony where a few chairs and neatly trimmed topiary in pots serve as the roof garden. Just after 10am, commands are barked across the square. The orderly officer, Captain Ed Howland-Jackson, is inspecting the men and horses of the Queen's Life Guard which, at 11am, will change on Horse Guards Parade. "The soldiers are competing for 'relief'," whispers Olver. The best turned-out get the most popular jobs on Horse Guards, namely one of four sentry box or "boxman" duties, which will mean standing guard mounted, not on foot. "It means your kit doesn't degrade because your waxed and polished boots only crack if you have to march anywhere," he adds. At precisely 10.32am, Captain Will Goodhew, 26, a Life Guard's troop leader who commands the guard, will lead off. He is also going to Abu Dhabi, as Olver's understudy, and is next in line to command the Ride. Goodhew will take his men along a set route down the Mall, past Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace before arriving on Horse Guards Parade. After the Changing of the Guard ceremony they will remain there for the next 24 hours until a troop from the Blues and Royals take over. Soldiers at Knightsbridge measure their time off in hours, not days, and a 36-hour break in the course of a week would be exceptional. "What they do and what they learn here is so phenomenal that when they deploy to, say, Afghanistan, other regiments often say, 'How come your soldiers are so good?' I generally believe it's because of the regime here," says Olver. It is a sink-or-swim environment. "If you don't cut the mustard here, you won't get through. It's a real bonding process. When you deploy on operations and look to the man on your left and right, you know that you can trust them," he says. "We're very lucky to have the opportunity to put pressure on our young soldiers. When they go to the armoured regiment and are told to tighten a wheel nut or clean a rifle, it's dead easy. So much so that they are always looking for somewhere else to shine and show initiative. I'm really passionate about the training we do here and what it is worth." A week later, 30 horses from the Mounted Regiment's Blues and Royals squadron are unloaded from transporters close to a beach at Holkham, Norfolk. This is a morning of pure fun at the seaside. In blue polo shirts, khaki breeches worn with blue and red stable belts and boots with spurs, the men form and canter up and down the beach and through the edges of the surf. The horses love it. Other soldiers strip down into just shorts and ride into the deeper water where the horses swim. It is mayhem. Olver, who has kept his boots dry, is standing, legs apart, surveying his troops T E Lawrence-like from the roof of an Army ambulance. They have come 40 minutes from Bodney Camp, near Watton, where they are among the 130 horses and 260 officers and men enjoying three weeks of annual regimental training, which is a world away from the burdens of public duties in London. "It gives the horses a break after a tough regimental season. Yes, the boys are still working jolly hard getting up early and looking after horses, but it's a nicer environment than the concrete jungle of Knightsbridge," says Olver. By mid-afternoon, back at Bodney, members of the Ride assemble under Corporal of Horse Puddifoot to rehearse a dry-run on foot for next week's open day. "Two lads haven't done the full run-through before so this is just to get our distances right before we rehearse on horses," he says, as he watches the two columns of jogging men. So can it go wrong? "Yes, if we get the distances wrong you can ruin the whole thing," says Corporal Tariq Baksh, 23. As one of the two sections' "leading files", he must stay switched-on. Baksh was born in the Caribbean but his family lives in east London. He joined the army at 16 and the Life Guards a year later, never having worked with horses. "I was petrified of them when I arrived. I've been in the mounted regiment for six years and hope to become a riding master, which will mean I stay at Knightsbridge permanently," he says. He has been a member of the Ride on and off since 2005 and looks forward to Abu Dhabi. "It's the first time we've ever done something quite so ambitious - so much has gone into it and all the guys are very proud to be on the team." Anthony Glass, a 27-year-old trooper from Somerset, is in his first year in the Ride. "Although I've ridden at home for most of my life, I find riding in all the kit quite a challenge because it's very heavy," he says. In contrast, Simon Evans, 21, from Kidwelly, south Wales, had never sat on a horse until he joined more than a year ago. Nor will he have flown in a plane until he leaves for the UAE. "I worked hard at my riding and was spotted by the RM. I must have done something right. When I did my first show at the Cartier Polo Tournament at Windsor it felt fantastic? there's nothing like riding to music," he says brightly. As the people of Abu Dhabi will discover. <b>The Musical Ride's opening-night performance, by invitation only, is on September 30 at 8pm, followed by a performance for schools on October 1 at 11.30am. Public performances take place from October 1-3 at 8 pm. Tickets are available online at www.adihex.com. To find out more about the Musical Ride, go to www.musicalride.co.uk </b>