Today we went to see the Trooping the Colour which is where the guards show their colours to the Queen. Today was the Colonel's review which is a practise for the real thing on the Queen's birthday which is next week. There was a lot of shouting when the Sergeants were yelling out orders to their troops. We were surprised that the guards had such loud voices. You could hear them all over the parade ground which is really big. They could yell even louder than Ms Reeves.
We were sitting in a stand. There was a guard on each stand where people sat and the one that was on our stand scuffed Holly on the head which was fun and they were allowed to talk which they normally aren't allowed to do. The guards signalled when we needed to stand up for certain parts of the parade like when the first regiment went by or when the Queen's carriage goes past.
There were 2 large horses that carry the drums. One was grey and white and one was brown and white. The drums are called kettle drums and and they are very noisy. The grey horse was named Mercury. Did you know that the first letter of the horses names tells you what age they are?
The horses are bought in Ireland and Wales when they are about 3 years old and then they are trained to be guards horses.
The parade went for 2 hours and it was really good. There was a lot of slow marching and lots of fast marching and the band was good. There was a marching band and a band on horses.
The guards that were presenting the colour were the Coldstream Guards. This is the first time they have presented with this colour. They were only presented with this colour in 2012. There are 5 regiments of the foot guards. The Grenadiers, Scots, Welsh, Irish, and the Coldstream. The Irish guards have a mascot, it is an Irish Wolfhound. They are the only guards that have a mascot.
We got a photo with one of the guards. We were allowed to touch them because they weren't guarding the queen.
Today was amazing and exciting because I really wanted to see the trooping the colour because I like the guards and their bear skin caps.
Fantastic photos..fantastic parade..snazzy hat Aidan!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing sight to see. I'm sure they have had to practice for a long time to be in time with each other. And so many horses...! Have you ever ridden a horse Aidan or Holly?
ReplyDeleteWhat different colours did you get to see? Was it very hot? Those hats the guards wear look really big. Can they see very well? You see very lucky to have a photo with the guard.
Be good..!