Horses

IMH 1 Commanders'/Staff Officers' Chargers with basic hunting saddle and pistol holster. (Set of 4).

IMH 2 Regular Cavalry Horses Set A. (Set of 4)

IMH 3 Regular Cavalry Horses Set B. (Set of 4)

IMH 4 Irregular Cavalry Horses Set A. (Set of 4)

IMH 5 Irregular Cavalry Horses Set B. (Set of 4)

IMH 6 Artillery Horses - (Set of 8 - £20). [3 near-side, 3 off-side, 2 x saddle horses]. 

IMH 7 Commanders'/Staff Officers' Chargers Standing (Set of 4).

IMH 8 Commanders'/Staff Officers' Chargers Walking/Cantering (Set of 4 - 2 of each type).

IMH 9 Artillery Horses - (Set of 4). [2 near-side, 2 off-side]. 

Our horses are sold in codes of 4 animals, (as illustrated below), separately from our horsemen, in order to permit maximum flexibility in how you mount your units: in other words no horses will necessarily be forced on you by your choice of riders.  Additionally if you want a few more of a particular code of riders, perhaps for conversion purposes, you won't have to pay over the odds by buying horses you don't necessarily need. The exception to the general rule of four horses to the code is a horse artillery code of 8 animals, (IMH 6), consisting of a limber team of six horses plus two saddle horses for outriders. The set serves equally well for British and rebel horse artillery. The corresponding sets of 8 artillerymen consist of an officer, a second outrider, three drivers and three seated gunners to split between the limber and the axle-tree seats of the guns.  (Our existing limber kit comes with the parts necessary for it to be used for either bullock-drawn guns or horse artillery). 

In the case of the regular and irregular cavalry codes, buying a Set A and a Set B together will give you 8 differently animated animals. Which horses for which units then? It's easier than you think! The simple rule of thumb is that if the troop type has the word 'irregular' in the title, then you will need our irregular horse codes (IMH 4 and 5) to mount it How easy is that! Otherwise its regular horses for the Bengal Light Cavalry, Guides Cavalry and Hodson's Horse. For Havelock's Cavalry, uniquely, you will need one set of either regular or staff officer's horses for the 4 overthrown officers in the set, and one set of irregular horses for the four mounted infantrymen. 

It is a fairly common misconception that cavalrymen rode about with their carbines attached to the sling swivels on their carbine belts, but in fact they were routinely secured to the saddlery forward of the rider's right leg, by means of a securing strap around the small of the butt and a leather bucket for the barrel. Because good history dictates that we should, this is how we have modelled our carbines.  Only after the cautionary command, 'Prepare to dismount', did the soldier unstrap the butt of his weapon and secure it to his person, by clipping the sling swivel on his belt to the bar on the left-hand side of the weapon. The weapon was then temporarily moved to the opposite hip to facilitate the physical act of dismounting. 

At the risk of teaching grannies (experienced modellers) to suck eggs (!), this how we attached the carbines to our figures. The carbines have been modelled with a locking pin on the inside of the butt, but because the carbine rests in a rather awkward spot between the rider's leg and the horse, (often in a slightly different position depending on your choice of horse), it has not been possible to position a corresponding receiving hole in either the rider or the horse.  Having made a decision on which riders and horses are to go together, those who wish to do so could drill a hole for themselves, but we found that this was by no means essential, as it was perfectly possible to secure the carbine with superglue, with no real prospect of it ever coming off, (save through the sort of rough handling that nobody in their right mind exposes painted figures to!). So we cut off the locking pin and proceeded without it. We found that the easy and quick technique was to rest the rider and horse on its side, place the carbine in position and then drop two subtle drops of glue onto the weapon, one high on the butt and one lower down - typically where the barrel bucket will be resting against the top muscle of the horse's foreleg (or thereabouts)...and 'bob's your uncle', as they say! All being well, your glue will flow nicely around to the rear of the weapon and perform its magic in an imperceptible way. Top tip: be sure to use a new bottle of glue, or one with a still neat neck, so that you don't get a massive outflow from a battered old bottle that you've unclogged countless times in the past! You will have a few seconds in hand while superglue will run, if not quite like water, then at least pretty readily, so  that if by chance you get a blob of glue resting on the visible surface, you will be able quickly to push it over the edge of the carbine, to the invisible rear surfaces, using a pinhead or similar. Job done.