Queen Elizabeth II's Household Cavalry tours Sevilla with Spain's mounted police

BRITS who were in Sevilla this week may have wondered if they were hallucinating when they thought they saw the Household Cavalry parading through the southern city's streets – some 1,500 kilometres away from the monarch they are employed to protect.

A union between the two biggest regiments in the British Army, The Life Guards and The Blues & Royals, the Household Cavalry is a mounted security squad in place to keep Queen Elizabeth II safe, and if ever they ride by in the vicinity of Buckingham Palace, they can guarantee they will be surrounded by tourists from every continent frantically clicking at their cameras.

This year is the 30th anniversary of Spain's National Police force's Special Cavalry Unit's participation in the International Spanish Horse Show, or Salón Internacional del Caballo (SICAB), which takes place in Sevilla's Congress and Exhibition Centre annually.

It focuses entirely on the ubiquitous and much-loved Pura Raza Española – which translates as 'Spanish Thoroughbred', although these world-famous horses are completely different to English, Irish and French thoroughbreds of the type used in flat-racing, steeplechase, point-to-point, and often crossed with warmbloods or ponies for competition horses or Pony Club mounts respectively; the Pura Raza Española is closer to the Arab horse in stature, conformation and gait, smaller in height than a thoroughbred and more thick-set.

Pura Razas Españolas are known for being easy to school, with a natural penchant for advanced dressage, and extremely tractable and quiet – males are usually stallions, as they are already so reliable, predictable and laid-back that owners rarely bother to geld them. 

The SICAB is the largest and most famous equestrian event on earth featuring the Pura Raza Española, and this year's show had some special guests in the form of British Royal equines.

National Police 'mounties' and Queen Elizabeth's Household Cavalry paraded around Sevilla together, touring some of the city's key sites and monuments in the centre and in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood.

They set off from the well-known María Luis Park, and toured the Patio de Banderas ('Patio of Flags'), the Plaza Doña Elvira, the ancient Jewish quarters, among other major visitor hotspots, to give the public as much chance as possible of witnessing this extremely rare equestrian teaming-up.

The National Police explained that the Household Cavalry had travelled to Sevilla to find out more about how the Spanish force's mounted unit worked and to celebrate its three decades of displaying its skills at the SICAB.