Horse Guards

Horse Guards or horse guards can refer to:

Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, England, at grid reference TQ299800. It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.

History

Horse Guards Parade was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments (including jousting) were held in the time of Henry VIII. It was also the scene of annual celebrations of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth I. The area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century.

It was once the Headquarters of the British Army. The Duke of Wellington was based in Horse Guards when he was Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The current General Officer Commanding London District still occupies the same office and uses the same desk. Wellington also had living quarters within the building, which today are used as offices.

Car park

For much of the late 20th century, Horse Guards Parade was used as a car park for senior civil servants; about 500 were granted the privilege, which was known as the 'Great Perk'. The PIRA's mortar attack on 10 Downing Street on 7 February 1991, which was carried out from a vehicle parked in Horse Guards Avenue near to Horse Guards Parade, although producing no casualties, led to concern about security. In April 1993 the Royal Parks Review Group, headed by Dame Jennifer Jenkins, Lady Jenkins of Hillhead, recommended that Horse Guards Parade should be restored for public use, and linked to St James's Park by closing Horse Guards Road. The proposal was taken up by the Department of National Heritage but then resisted by senior Cabinet members, apparently under pressure from the civil servants who were to lose their parking places.

Guard

Guard or guards may refer to:

Professional occupations

Governmental and military

Sports

Horse

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Hyracotherium, into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, as this term is used to describe horses that have never been domesticated, such as the endangered Przewalski's horse, a separate subspecies, and the only remaining true wild horse. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.

Horses' anatomy enables them to make use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.

Guard Mounting

Guard Mounting, or Changing the Guard, refers to a formal ceremony in which sentries providing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate and precisely choreographed. They originated with peacetime and battlefield military drills introduced to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness in the 17th century.

Canada

The changing the guard ceremony conducted in Canada is performed daily during the summer months at Rideau Hall, Parliament Hill and the National War Memorial in Ottawa by the combined Ceremonial Unit made up of the two Canadian regiments of Foot Guards. There is also a ceremonial Changing the Guard ceremony during the summer at the Citadelle of Quebec by members of the Royal 22^e Régiment.

Chile

The changing of the guard ceremony is conducted every odd-numbered day, including Sundays, at La Moneda Palace in Santiago, Chile with the Carabineros de Chile's Presidential Guard Group providing the guard. A pair of mounted units lead the Central Band, Drums and Bugles of the Carabineros and the new guard to the plaza in front of La Moneda where the departing detachment meets them. While patriotic and popular music is played, the color guard emerges and salutes are exchanged between the old and new guards at the main gate and the officers of each unit. The ceremony ends with the band, drums and bugles marching off with the old guard.