Most people picture the Army with tanks, rifles and fighter jets. It also moves on hooves and paws — horses carrying loads where no vehicle can reach, mules climbing mountain tracks in single file, and dogs that guard, track and detect. Looking after every one of those animals is the job of one specialist corps: the Remount & Veterinary Corps, or RVC.
If your institution hosts an R&V unit, RVC is your specialised subject — the equivalent of what Army, Naval and Air Wing cadets study in their own streams.
VSVSV is a private learning platform. We are not affiliated with the NCC, the Directorate General NCC, or the Ministry of Defence. This is a general introduction; confirm anything that affects your training or examination with your ANO.
What the two words mean
- Remount is an old cavalry word for supplying and training fresh animals — the horses and mules the Army needs.
- Veterinary is the care of their health.
Put together, the Corps breeds, buys, trains and cares for the Army's animals, keeps them healthy, and decides when an animal has finished its service. Today that covers horses and mules, and also the Army's dogs, bred and trained for guarding, tracking and detection.
Where it comes from
The Corps is one of the oldest in the Indian Army. Its story begins in 1779, when a board was set up to breed horses for the growing cavalry — a stud department whose founding year is still honoured as the birth year of the Corps. Much later, in 1920, the Army Veterinary Corps was formally raised, and over time the remount and veterinary roles were brought together into today's Remount & Veterinary Corps.
Its main homes are worth knowing, because they come up in the paper:
| Establishment | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Centre and College | Meerut | Trains the Corps' officers and soldiers |
| Equine Breeding Stud | Hisar, Haryana | Breeds and rears young horses |
| Equine Breeding Stud | Babugarh, Uttar Pradesh | Breeds and rears young horses |
Within the Army's organisation the RVC comes under the Quartermaster General — the branch responsible for supply and support.
Where RVC sits among the wings
This is the part that confuses people, so it is worth being exact.
The NCC's service wings are Army, Naval and Air. RVC is a fourth specialised subject, studied by cadets in R&V units, and the current examination order lists it beside the other three carrying the same 150 marks. So:
- Your common subjects — drill, weapon training, disaster management, drones, cyber science and the rest — are identical to every other cadet's. That is 350 of the 500 marks.
- Your specialised paper is RVC instead of the standard Army, Navy or Air syllabus. That is the other 150.
You do not choose this. Like every wing, it is set by which unit your institution hosts.
What cadets actually learn
Four subject blocks, each examined:
Animal management — breeds, the parts of the body, colours and markings, how animals are identified, routine daily care, stable vices, minor ailments, clipping, and how animals are transported.
Equitation — riding. It starts with dismounted and mounted drill, seat and posture, and the walk; it builds through trot, canter, school movements and dressage, to show jumping, tent pegging and cavalletti work. Equestrian sport rules are part of it.
Saddle fitting — the parts of a saddle, how to fit one correctly, what goes wrong when it fits badly, harnessing, bitting, and how saddlery is cared for and preserved.
Shoeing — the structure of the hoof, why animals are shod, a farrier's tools, preparing the foot, fitting shoes, the injuries faulty shoeing causes, types of shoe, diseases of the foot, and surgical shoeing.
Alongside those sits military history, which every wing studies.
How the weighting shifts between A, B and C
This surprises cadets, so plan for it. Equitation dominates at A and B and then falls away; saddle fitting is modest early and becomes the single heaviest block at C.
| Block | Cert A | Cert B | Cert C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military History | 20 | 24 | 20 |
| Organisation | 4 | 2 | — |
| Animal Management | 30 | 31 | 40 |
| Equitation | 48 | 50 | 16 |
| Saddle Fitting | 28 | 19 | 60 |
| Shoeing | 20 | 24 | 14 |
| Total | 150 | 150 | 150 |
Marks are indicative, drawn from the published syllabus; the examination order is the authority. Note that Organisation carries no marks at C — it is examined in the first senior year only, so do not spend C revision time on it.
A fuller breakdown is in The RVC Syllabus, and the format, question counts and negative marking are in The NCC Certificate Exam Pattern.
Is RVC harder than the other wings?
It is not harder, it is different. Two honest points:
- It is the most practical of the wings. Equitation and shoeing are physical skills, and a cadet who has never been near a horse starts further back than one who has. Riding confidence takes time and nobody gains it from a book.
- The theory is very learnable. Breeds, colours, saddle parts, hoof structure, tools, diseases — these are factual, finite lists, and the paper is entirely multiple-choice. That suits systematic revision.
If you are in an R&V unit, this is your syllabus, and the marks table above is where to start.
See our RVC preparation courses.
This article is general guidance based on publicly available material from the Directorate General NCC, the National Cadet Corps Act 1948, the NCC Cadet Handbook, and standard NCC training literature. Specific eligibility, syllabus, camp counts, exam patterns, and recruitment rules change with each training directive and each recruitment notification — always confirm current specifics with your unit Associate NCC Officer (ANO) and the official portal of the relevant recruiting body. VSVSV is a private learning platform; it is not affiliated with the National Cadet Corps, the Directorate General NCC, the Ministry of Defence, or any government body.