Cavalry regiments of the British Army

There are currently nine regular cavalry regiments of the British Army, of these, two serve as armoured regiments, three as armoured cavalry regiments, three as light cavalry and one as a mounted ceremonial regiment. All except the Household Cavalry are part of the Royal Armoured Corps. There are also four yeomanry regiments of the Army Reserve.

The British Army, in the modern sense of the standing army under the Crown, was formed following the Restoration of King Charles II in 1661. At this point, the small standing forces included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Troops of Horse Guards and the Royal Regiment of Horse; some of these had been raised in exile and some as part of the New Model Army. 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 pistolls ... each Trooper of our Guards to have a carbine besides".

By the start of the eighteenth century, the cavalry establishment had been divided into household and line units. The household establishment consisted of four troops of Horse Guards and two of Horse Grenadier Guards, while the regular establishment was composed of nine regiments of Horse and eight of Dragoons. The "horse" regiments would in theory fight mounted as cavalry, while dragoons were originally mounted infantry - they would fight dismounted, but were provided with horses for swift movement. By the middle of the century, the term had come simply to mean light cavalry.

Regiments were, at this time, known by semi-permanent nicknames or by the names of their colonels; in 1751, in an attempt to reduce confusion, regiments were assigned numbers in order of their seniority. The cavalry regiments of the line were numbered in three separate sequences; 1st through 4th Horse, then 1st through 3rd Dragoon Guards, then 1st through 14th Dragoons. "Dragoon Guards" was a new title, and did not denote a Guards' role; it was adopted by the three senior horse regiments in 1746, when George II reduced them to the status of dragoons in order to save money.

...
Wikipedia