The military historian R G Harris produced two articles on the drum horses of the 9th Lancers, one in Military Modelling magazine, September 1985, and one 19 years earlier in the Bulletin of the Military Historical Society vol XVII no.65 (Aug 1966). The MHS article described this photo, claiming that it was a drum horse photographed c1879:
‘It is thought that new banners were acquired in 1863, when the battle honours DELHI and LUCKNOW were authorised. These banners remained in service for the next 50 years, during this time accompanying the Regiment twice to India and once to South Africa. ‘Some photographs taken during the first of these two periods in India, 1878-1886, are of great interest, two showing the entire mounted Regiment and a third of the drum horse. The photographs were taken by J Burke at Sialkot about 1879. In the parade photographs the Band, drawn up on the right of the Regiment, are mounted on white horses. In one, which is a full dress parade, there are drum banners in use, but in the other, where the troops wear drill order, no banners are used. The drum horse in the third picture is held by a syce, before the drums have been assembled, and clearly shows the pattern of shabraque which has rounded hind sections entirely filled with a Regimental crest, crossed lances with Queen Adelaide’s Cypher reversed where lances cross, a Crown above and numerals IX below, a wreath of acorns below the Cypher and numerals. The shabraque is blue with broad gold edging, the black lambskin saddle cover has a red edge.’
My own copy of the photo he describes, reproduced here, was captioned as a charger belonging to an officer, Lieutenant Jones VC, during the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58. The fact that it is a white, or grey, horse gives credence to the idea that it is a band horse, but the front of the shabraque is edged in gold so indicates that it belonged to an officer. Officers of the 9th at that time had shabraques with embroidery on the rear, or hind, parts only, and in this pattern. It does not look as though it is ready to receive drums on the front of the saddle. The photo also has a look of being of 1850s vintage. The quality of photos was much better in the late 1870s.
