Cavalry regiments of the British Army

All except the Household Cavalry are part of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps.

The horsemen of the period were equipped as cuirassiers, with armour on the head and the body; the regulations of Charles II, in 1663, provided for them to be armed with "a sword and a case of pistols ... each Trooper of our Guards to have a carbine besides".

At the same time, a large number of troops of volunteer cavalry were raised on a county level, consisting of local gentry and yeoman farmers; from the latter they took the description yeomanry.

These troops formed into yeomanry regiments, organised broadly by county, around 1800; their history thereafter is complex, with many disbanding, reforming, and changing title intermittently.

However, most remained in existence throughout the nineteenth century, seeing occasional service quelling riots and helping to maintain public order.

By this point, the distinction between heavy and light cavalry regiments had effectively vanished, as both fought in the same manner and were equipped in the same way—with the exception of the lancers, who retained their lances.

The outbreak of the South African War in 1899 caused some sharp setbacks for the British forces, leading to a high demand for additional troops to be despatched, especially light cavalry.

Some 34,000 men were sent to South Africa on one-year enlistments through 1900 and 1901, the majority coming initially from existing regiments of yeomanry.

As the first contingent of volunteers returned, and the lessons of the war were absorbed by the Army, it was decided to convert the Yeomanry into mounted infantry along the same lines.

However, the anticipated war of manoeuvre on the Western Front never took place, and the cavalry forces were never employed in their intended role; instead, many saw intermittent service as dismounted infantry.

However, mounted cavalry did play a major role in the Sinai and Palestine theatre, most notably at the Battle of Beersheba.

Following the War, and the subsequent reduction in the strength of the Army, it was apparent that future warfare would involve much less of a role for cavalry.

Following mechanisation, the few remaining distinctions of unit type became meaningless; cavalry regiments moved between the heavy and light armoured roles regardless of their names.

After the war, the regular cavalry was quickly reduced to its pre-war establishment, and reduced further by the 1957 Defence White Paper; as a result of this, seven regular cavalry regiments were lost through amalgamation, leaving two household, sixteen line regiments.

Armoured regiments are equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks (being replaced by Challenger 3): Regular: Reserve: Armoured cavalry regiments are equipped with Warrior armoured fighting vehicles (being replaced by Ajax); they have no paired reserve units: Light cavalry regiments are equipped with Jackal vehicles: Regular: Reserve: