Horse colors in British cavalry regiments

[Dr Mathias]

Hello,
I asked this question on the Colonial Wars Yahoo group a couple days ago, but the mods haven't approved it and I'm getting antsy. I'm preparing to paint up some lancers for the Anglo-Zulu war and I was wondering how homogenous, if at all, the horse colors were.

I feel like a read that in earlier periods the 'powers that be' could be really finicky, for example cavalry all being mounted on black horses etc. I also heard once that someone once wished that 'all the short men would die', so that the entire regiment could be composed of tall men that would look good on parade. Not sure if that's true or not

I thought I also read that the trumpeter might be on a gray horse... is that true of any period?

I know that "they're my figures, I can paint them however I like", but I'd like to know the facts before I depart from them.

Anyway, what color horses could one expect to see?

Thanks!

[Tommy20]

I feel like a read that in earlier periods the 'powers that be' could be really finicky, for example cavalry all being mounted on black horses etc.

Not just a matter of being finicky, it was helpful for unit cohesion.  I'm sure it didn't last long on campaign, though.

I also heard once that someone once wished that 'all the short men would die', so that the entire regiment could be composed of tall men that would look good on parade.

They would also line up by height, to give the illusion of a straight line...

I thought I also read that the trumpeter might be on a gray horse... is that true of any period?

Absolutely.  Although again hard to maintain on campaign.

[Volleyfire!]

Would have thought bay was the colour for entire regts. Apart from possibly the Household Cavalry which seemed to prefer black where possible. Given that bay is the most common colour anyway it would make sense to equipment the cavalry with horses of that colour.

[Dr Mathias]

I'll probably go with bay- there's quite a nice variety within that so that the unit isn't too monotonous. Would it still be appropriate to use a gray horse on the trumpeter, and an off-color for the officer?

[joroas]

Custer swopped all the horses around in the 7th so that all the squadrons had a coherent horse colour, but it made him unpopular as riders had got used to their horses only to lose them to this move.  I suggest that it shows how little that this occured, with the exception of the Scots Greys.

[fastolfrus]

All troopers on bays, trumpeter on grey would look good.

[Arthur]

What me esteemed colleagues said.

The cavalry obsession with black mounts apparently had much to do with the belief that the darker the horse, the greater its strength. Colour consistency was obviously much easier to achieve in peacetime than during a war. On campaign, the chief concern was to ensure that each trooper got a mount regardless of colour and size, especially when the army was fighting in some remote corner of the world where British-bred horses would start dying in droves because of the climate or the absence of proper fodder.  

[Dr Mathias]

Thank you for the responses, very helpful.
Matt