Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the new monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II faced rebellions in Britain and Ireland in support of the exiled James II. In 1689 the 4th Horse joined the government army which swiftly suppressed the Jacobite rebellion led by Viscount Dundee in the Scottish Highlands. The 9th Regiment of Horse was re-numbered the 8th in 1690 and took part in the Williamite Irish campaign which defeated Jacobite forces at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July. In recognition of its service in Ireland, the 8th Horse was awarded the title of ‘King's Carabiniers’.
British troops were also deployed as part of a broader European coalition to thwart the territorial ambitions of James’s ally, Louis XIV of France. The 4th Horse and the Carabiniers sailed to Flanders where they joined King William's offensive of 1692 against the French. In 1694 the Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons joined the campaign under the command of Lieutenant-General Thomas Livingstone, 1st Viscount Teviot. The grey horses, for which the regiment would become famous, may have been acquired by Livingstone around this time. All three regiments campaigned in the Low Countries until the Peace of Ryswick ended the war in 1697.
