WATCH Elite Kremlin guards’ horseback display as regiment turns 90

The Presidential Regiment rehearses mounted drills and performs a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow

Russia’s elite Presidential Regiment marks its 90th anniversary on Thursday. The unit, headquartered inside the Kremlin, secures the compound and protects senior Russian state officials.

The regiment includes the Cavalry Escort, which performs mounted ceremonial displays, and the Special Guard Company, which carries out honor guard duties.

The mounted ceremony is traditionally held on Kremlin's Cathedral Square once a week and features synchronized maneuvers by riders of the Regiment’s Cavalry Escort. Considered one of Moscow’s top military spectacles, the event regularly attracts tourists and visitors from Russia and abroad. The video below shows a rehearsal.

Horses for the Presidential Regiment are selected exclusively from Russian stud farms. The Cavalry Escort primarily uses Trakehner, Hanoverian, and Russian breeds. Twelve riders take part in the core mounted routine, while 14 participate in the full ceremonial performance.

The next footage shows the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall.

The ceremony is carried out daily by the Presidential Regiment’s Special Guard Company, which maintains an honor guard at the Eternal Flame. It is also one of Moscow’s most popular tourist attractions, but unlike the mounted drills, the changing of the guard is an active ceremonial duty.

The regiment was established in April 1936, but traditionally marks its birthday on May 7, when it was awarded one of the Soviet Union’s highest military decorations, the Order of the Red Banner, in 1965. Three battalions of the regiment took part in the 1945 Victory Parade on Red Square following the defeat of Nazi Germany.