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What was the difference between the British Dragoon regiments and the Dragoon Guard regiments?

Kentucky Horseman wrote:What was the difference between the British Dragoon regiments and the Dragoon Guard regiments?

Hi!

Semantics, mostly. The Dragoon Guards were the Guards. It means that they were senior cavalry regiments of the Army, had better pay, more prestige and a very prolonged leaves for officers (up to 6 month according to Fred Burnaby). They were, though, not the part of a Household Troops.
The role of a Dragoon Guards (as other Dragoon regiments of a line in a British Army) were to be a heavy cavalry (just like French cuirassiers, but without body armor). Their title Guards were granted to distinct an old Royal Regiments of Horse amongst the other cavalry which are commonly referred in the 18th century as dragoons. For an example of Dragoons as a Heavy Cavalry see the charge of a 1st Royal Dragoons at Waterloo and Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Crimea).
During the Napoleonic wars a Light Dragoons units had were constituted which had had a slightly different role on the battlefield - to recon, harass and pursue. Some of them ceased to exist after Waterloo or were converted to a new lancer or hussar regiments.
So the underline is - Dragoon Guards is something of an elite heavy cavalry regiment of the line. Dragoons - just a heavy cavalry regiments of the line.
On the battlefield both the DG and dragoons were the primary chargers on the enemy's infantry to break a formation and made them flee.

That is kind of what I figured but I wasn't sure.