The winter sun hasn’t quite cleared the smog over Raisina Hill, but the rhythmic, metallic clack-clack-clack of hooves acts as a morning wake-up call for the national capital.
Mere days remain before showtime. While the rest of Delhi is just stirring, the President’s Bodyguard (PBG) is already deep into its final rehearsals for the 77th Republic Day.
At the helm of this magnificent silver-and-scarlet spectacle is Colonel Amit Berwal, the Commandant of the PBG. In his third year with the regiment, this also marks his third Republic Day parade — a milestone that carries the weight of 253 years of history.
Firstpost’s Anmol Singla was granted rare, exclusive access to the PBG’s inner sanctum as they transitioned from the red Badarpur sand of the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt to the unforgiving concrete of Kartavya Path.
In this special report, we look into the sheer physical toll that goes behind-the-scenes as Berwal details the Herculean efforts to ready nearly 70 horses and their riders for an event where perfection is non-negotiable.
Firstpost has previously given its readers rare access to the PBG’s stables at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in an exclusive feature published in November.
Behind-the-scenes with the PBG at a Republic Day rehearsal
“The PBG has close to a 100 horses. For Republic Day, 70-plus are involved in various roles to participate. Usually, you will see about 60 odd horses escorting the President,” Berwal tells Firstpost.
Why horses need special preparation
Ceremonial parades demand the opposite of a horse’s natural world. Berwal contrasts them sharply with equestrian sports.
In show jumping, a horse warms up for 15 minutes, then jumps for 90 seconds max. Tent pegging? 6-7 seconds per run, four runs totalling 24 seconds of stress. Polo limits a horse to one 7.5-minute chukker after a 10-minute warmup. Eventing spreads efforts over days in soft, controlled arenas with referees ensuring safety.
Parades flip this script.
Here, horses and riders must remain calm, poised, and immobile by design — sometimes standing still for long periods before and after movement, and almost always performing on hard, unnatural surfaces like tarmac and tiles.
“We will have our Badarpur red sand in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. But on Kartavya Path, it’s tarmac and tiles. The surface is totally divorced from what a horse likes to work on. That has issues in terms of stress, safety, slipperiness, traction and slope,” he says.
Kartavya Path, slopes between the North and South Blocks, and Vijay Chowk itself are not flat; descent can cause a horse to slip if not properly acclimated.
Even extending into rehearsals for the Beating Retreat and Parliament opening ceremonies, which have their own surface challenges like cobblestones.
To mimic that latter surface, the PBG has constructed practice tracks within its own grounds — a testament to the regiment’s forward-thinking approach to training. Special nailed shoes with iron dots enhance traction as experiments continue for slopes and speed breakers.
“So, now the horse must be trained to negotiate this kind of surface, stay still or calm in an environment which appears to be completely non-friendly to him,” explains Berwal.
How horses are trained for the ’noise’
What sets the PBG apart from other ceremonial units is how closely its rehearsals emulate actual parade conditions.
This includes simulating noise, crowd reaction, music, and rhythmic stresses. Loud music — like the sounds that will blare through Kartavya Path on Republic Day — is played near stables both in the mornings and evenings during rehearsals.
Drummers walk past the stables to accustom horses to sudden rhythmic patterns, and horses are walked repeatedly through these conditioned soundscapes.
Horses are inherently flight animals — and riding them in such hostile-seeming conditions is counter-intuitive. Yet, through patient exposure, trust-building, and controlled rehearsals, they learn to cope.
“You need to make friends with the horse,” Berwal stresses.
“In a very soft manner we introduce him to these disturbances, and sort of make him realise that it’s okay, it’s safe, you’re safe with me, and together both of us are safe.”
This is not a cursory training regimen. It is 40-45 days of discipline, starting mid-December and continuing up to and beyond January 26.
Rehearsals build gradually. Horses start lightly mounted with minimal bits, progressing to full ceremonial gear by January 15-20.
“In the beginning, we don’t mount all the ceremonial gear on the horse at once. Initially, we mount as light as possible with the lightest bits. Once the horse gets used to the duration and surface, then we start adding the ceremonial weapons and eventually full ceremonial uniforms,” Berwal explains.
This gradual layering is pivotal because ceremonial tack — including ornate uniforms, decorative bits and additional weight — alters a horse’s movement and balance.
What to do if a horse spooks on parade at Republic Day
Rehearsals can’t cover every chaos — fighter jets thundering low, 21-gun salutes, and sudden crowd surges — so there is a chance a horse may still get uneasy.
“The environment is dynamic, there are people moving, shouting and clapping. There are security personnel with various kinds of devices, weapons, and there are different types of flags, and there are different types of paraphernalia,” reflects Berwal.
“So, the horse is not used to all this, and it spooks him, he feels for his safety.”
Riders are trained for this possibility: not to pull back or tighten reins, but to release pressure and allow the horse to calm itself comfortably.
Berwal outlines this clearly. “An average rider or even a sportsman, when a horse misbehaves, takes rein, pulls the horse. Our riders are trained to release the rein. Release pressure on the jaws and the mouth of the horse… so that he has enough leeway to move his neck, de-stress and calm down.”
How a PBG trooper is defined through his horse
The rider-horse duo is symbiotic.
“First you have to learn to respect the horse. You have to respect the power of the horse… At the end of the day it is the horse permitting you to ride him,” Berwal states explicitly.
“And it is us riders who need to tap into that power, seek permission and ride along ‘with’ the horse and not ‘on’ the horse.”
This year’s contingent includes debutante horses — first-timers stepping into the parade’s chaos — alongside veterans whose grooming makes them gleam.
“You would notice that when the Bodyguard [PBG] horses are on display, they outshine any other horse which you would have seen,” Berwal says proudly.
In ceremonial terms, horses are more than mounts — they are ambassadors of discipline and heritage. Their grooming — from the shine of their coats to the condition of their hooves — is subject to daily, fastidious attention.
“Our animal husbandry practices are such that we invest a lot in the health of the horse, personally. The riders are very close to the horse,” reveals Berwal.
Daily checks are ritualistic. Evenings involve trotting to detect limps, with riders personally involved in grooming for hoof condition, skin shine, and gait.
Between escorts, PBG uses staging areas near Janpath crossing — temporary stables behind grandstands for refreshments, injury checks, and prep.
As the rehearsal concluded, the sun finally broke through the Delhi mist, glinting off the brass of the trumpets and the steel of the lances.
The PBG turns back toward the North Block, ascending the slope they had just spent hours mastering.
“For us, it is a matter of pride to serve the honourable President. We cannot accept even one error, one flaw on the parade. We strive for a sort of forever excellence. That is how the Bodyguard operates,” Berwal concludes with a tone of finality.
Firstpost’s glimpse reveals a world of sweat-soaked tunics, midnight stable checks, and unbreakable wills.
On Monday, when the President descends from her residence, escorted by 60 of these magnificent beasts, the world will see a display of “unwavering focus.”
But for the men of the PBG, the real victory was won here, in the cold January mornings, through the quiet bond between a rider and a horse that trusts him enough to walk through fire — or at least, through the cacophony of Kartavya Path on India’s Republic Day.
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