the Mounted Band of the Royal Lifeguards

the Mounted Band

of the Royal Lifeguards

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Ten months

	The new soldiers in The Mounted Band of the Royal Life Guards join up for their military service in the beginning of November every year at I1 in Kungsängen. The first day you get all your equipment for the basic military training, and you get to carry the notorious and dreaded sack with all the clothes. In the afternoon you go to the home regiment K1 in the central of Stockholm. You put all the equipment in your locker and then you are taught the basics of military service, such as how to stand at attention and how to make your bed.
	Now three intensive months begin with many hard days work, early mornings and late nights. It´s hard to adapt to these new circumstances in the beginning. You are not used to sleep with 8-9 persons in the same room. You have to take orders from someone else and it´s both physically and mentally trying. But when you get to know each other you stick together and help out to do "the job". In the beginning the education is part basic military training, part music rehearsals and riding lessons. You must allways be attentive and learn as much as possible. Surely you can fall of the horse the first times and play some wrong notes but as time goes by you get better and better. You can also put up with the hard times as you know that during the year you will experience many fun performances and parades. After about 8 weeks it´s time to do the traditional beret test. It´s the culmination of the basic military training, and your soldier skills are really put to the test. If you pass you get the music soldier´s red beret. A goal full of prestige!
	The 30:th of April it´s time to play at the mounted changing of the guards at the Royal Castle. On His Majesty the King´s birthday the Royal Life Guard unit, ie soldiers from K1, traditionally guards the Royal Castle as well as the Drottningholm Castle. The day begins in the stable with care of your horse. Most of the music soldiers get a special horse to ride every parade. After changing to the parade uniform and having an early lunch, it´s time to saddle your horse with the extra fine parade equipment. It´s a bit tricky to get all the things in place for the inspection.
	About 11:20 the band together with the guard troup line up for the parade. Then you ride off. You pass Stureplan, Norrmalmstorg and Gustav Adolfs torg on your way to the castle. You see many cameras along the streets. Approximately 2 million (!) people watch the mounted parade of soldiers changing the guard every year, so you have to sit nicely in the saddle and play right.
	During your ten months in service you perform at 30-40 mounted changes of the guards. But these are not the only performances. The Mounted Band also plays at state visits, the Polar Music Prize ceremony, big riding competitions... The list is very long. In addition the band every year goes on some kind of tour. The band of 1998 for example went to Hamina in Finland. All performances may not be particularly fun, there may be thunder and rain, snow and cold, but most music soldiers say that it´s ten memorable months you do in the Mounted Band of the Royal Life Guards. The band has two mottos: "play no matter what weather it is" and "avanti/forward!". These two characterize the soldiers both in everyday work and at parade, and makes your military service something to remember all your life!