Meet the women of the Royal Horse Artillery

​Nearly half of the 154 soldiers in King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery are female, an unusually high percentage for the British Army.

The unit looks after 120 horses, so all the jobs are divided equally.

Gunner Hannah Brasher said: "On a daily basis, it's looking after the horses, mucking them out, exercising and grooming them. "We're a ceremonial unit, so we're always on the run up to either a show or a salute, on Green Park, Hyde Park, or in Windsor."

The great attraction of the unit is of course the chance to work with horses.

The soldiers not only ride them on ceremonial duties, they also get the chance to compete.

Gnr Brasher said: "[In civilian life] you'd either go fully into show-jumping or dressage, whereas here you can do anything.

"There's also a stable job and career and there's always something else you can do, like the Saddlers or the Tailors, or you can go and be a farrier.

"You can get qualifications you wouldn't get in civvie street."

The King's Troop boasts the British Army's first ever female Master Tailor, Sgt Emma Colton.

She's in charge of a small team of tailors responsible for making sure the unit's daunting array of uniforms are in perfect order.

Every soldier has six different sets of uniform, so that's a lot of tailoring.

Sgt Colton said: "Near enough every single item of uniform that's worn on parade comes through here first.

"It either needs to be let in, taken out, or trade badges sewn on, buttons put on, hooks put on, medals put on.

"We're always on TV, being filmed and on the news all the time and there are a lot of spotters out there who know how things should be done, a lot of ex-military people who watch all the time and like to comment if you've got it wrong, so it has to be done properly."

Over in the saddlery, another group of women are hard at work, this time with intricate leather work.

Saddlers do the unit's repairs, but they can also create saddles, bridles and other harnesses from a hide of leather.

Sgt Ruth Wyatt should qualify as a Master Saddler this year.

She said: "You need to think about the materials you use, the cut of leather you're going to use, and there's a lot of stitching."

Her team make the harnesses used on ceremonial duties.

They must be strong enough to cope when teams of six horses are pulling the 13 pounder field guns.

She said: "There's a lot of pride and a lot of responsibility.

"We're the health and safety for the unit, we check the harness before it goes out on parade, we follow the Commanding Officer round and hopefully nothing breaks.

"But it shouldn't do if we've done our job properly."

The women in the King's Troop get the chance to learn specialist trades and across the ranks, they're given the same opportunities as the men.

The Adjutant of The King's Troop is Capt Amelia Poskitt.

She says when it comes to riding, it doesn't make any difference whether you're male or female, adding: "We've proved that here again and again.

"Women go and race, do cross country, do show-jumping, go on all the parades, it's completely equal and always has been."

Ultimately, the horses are the big draw for everyone who joins The King's Troop, male or female.

And they at least are unlikely to notice any difference.