Sporting: A Silver Plate Mounted Horse Tail, circa 1927-1932, by Rowland Ward, Ltd, 167 Piccadilly, London, a silver plate mounted black horse tail, maximum length 126cm, engraved "Patrick, Bay Charger, 1927-1931"

Queen's Dragoon Guards. The origins of the KDG and Bays were identical. Both were raised on Hampstead Heath in June 1685 to help suppress the rebellion by King Charles II's bastard son the Duke of Monmouth against his uncle King James II. When King James II came to the throne in 1685 the regular English Army was tiny with the cavalry comprising only three troops of Life Guards, the Royal Regiment of Horse (The Blues) and a regiment of dragoons, the Royal Dragoons. In order to suppress the Monmouth Rebellion, King James was motivated to triple the size of the cavalry by adding eight more Regiments, six of Horse and two of Dragoons. Two of these cavalry units were the KDG and Bays, which were respectively Lanier's, or The 2nd Regiment of Horse, and Peterborough's, or The 3rd Regiment of Horse. As is the case today the Army's shape was dictated by the Government's drive to cut costs.
In 1746 both regiments were reduced from the status of Horse to that of Dragoons which were paid less. There was an outcry and a new status in between Horse and Dragoons was created called Dragoon Guards. As the senior members of this category, the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Horse then became respectively the 1st and 2nd Dragoon Guards.