on 9 November. Soon after arrival he fell ill and was granted two years of sick leave, starting from 26 March 1840, and returned to Britain. He returned to active service in June 1841, again to the Maidstone depot, and became a Lieutenant on the 19th. He went on leave again in August to take the riding master's course and exam, and returned on 8 March 1842, newly qualified. His attachment to the Maidstone depot gave Nolan the opportunity to further study and practice cavalry theory; he met several other officers with a similar interest, including Captain Key, with whom he became close friends. By 1842 his time at Maidstone had ended, and he departed for India in October, arriving at Madras on 9 May 1843. The 15th Light Dragoons were stationed in Bangalore, a relatively peaceful area, and Nolan did not see action during his time there. He was appointed regimental riding master on 13 August 1844, in recognition of his expertise at horsemanship. In his spare time, Nolan raced his horse Arab Beauty. At the Bangalore Cantonment Races in October 1846, he placed second in two races, and won both the Galloway Stakes and Ladies' Purse. A year later he entered Sahagun, without success. As regimental riding master he introduced substantial changes to the cavalry training programme, reintroducing the use of leaping bars, training individual soldiers before teaching formation riding to entire squads, and appointing a dedicated soldier in each troop who was trained to break in new horses. Over the next few years the regiment's standard of horsemanship rose, increasing Nolan's reputation. When the regiment was inspected by Major General John Aitchison, a man known for his high standards, he wrote that: Nolan then became a staff officer, joining the staff of General George Berkeley, commander-in-chief in Madras, as an aide-de-camp in January 1849. He quickly became close friends with Berkeley's two sons, Charles and George, who were also enthusiastic about horse-racing. In 1850 Nolan accompanied Berkeley on a tour of the region, conducting horse trials to evaluate the use of geldings as cavalry mounts rather than stallions, and was also promoted, purchasing a Captaincy on 8 March. Despite these successes, Nolan recognised that his prospects were far more limited in India than in England, and he could not afford the increased costs of serving in the colonies. At the same time, service in India was not