Has anyone worked out how to overwrite equipment data on troops?

[theRealBassist]

I've run into, and seen other people mention experiencing, an issue with XML overwriting where I will make a change to equipment and it will not take effect.

For example, here is the default entry for the Vlandian Squire (edited for brevity)

  <NPCCharacter id="vlandian_squire"
                default_group="Cavalry"
                level="11"
                civilianTemplate="NPCCharacter.vlandia_troop_civilian_template_t1"
                name="{=XzDObEiH}Vlandian Squire"
                occupation="Soldier"
                is_basic_troop="true"
                culture="Culture.vlandia">
    <equipmentSet>
      <equipment slot="Item0"
                 id="Item.vlandia_mace_1_t2" />
      <equipment slot="Item1"
                 id="Item.western_riders_kite_shield" />
      <equipment slot="Item2"
                  id="Item.western_spear_1_t2" />
      <equipment slot="Body"
                 id="Item.cloth_tunic" />
      <equipment slot="Leg"
                 id="Item.leather_cavalier_boots" />
      <equipment slot="Head"
                 id="Item.mail_coif" />
    </equipmentSet>
    <equipment slot="Horse"
               id="Item.vlandia_horse" />
    <equipment slot="HorseHarness"
               id="Item.light_harness" />
  </NPCCharacter>

And here is my edited version to remove the horse and horse harness:

  <NPCCharacter id="vlandian_squire"
                default_group="Cavalry"
                level="11"
                civilianTemplate="NPCCharacter.vlandia_troop_civilian_template_t1"
                name="{=XzDObEiH}Vlandian Squire"
                occupation="Soldier"
                is_basic_troop="true"
                culture="Culture.vlandia">
    <equipmentSet>
      <equipment slot="Item0"
                 id="Item.vlandia_mace_1_t2" />
      <equipment slot="Item1"
                 id="Item.western_riders_kite_shield" />
      <equipment slot="Item2"
                  id="Item.western_spear_1_t2" />
      <equipment slot="Body"
                 id="Item.cloth_tunic" />
      <equipment slot="Leg"
                 id="Item.leather_cavalier_boots" />
      <equipment slot="Head"
                 id="Item.mail_coif" />
    </equipmentSet>
<!--     <equipment slot="Horse"
               id="Item.vlandia_horse" />
    <equipment slot="HorseHarness"
               id="Item.light_harness" /> -->
  </NPCCharacter>

As you can see, I have commented out (and yes I have tried deleting it outright) the horse and harness, but they still appear in game.

This has also happened with various other units and item combinations, but not in 100% of cases. If anyone has any ideas how to work around this I would greatly appreciate it.