Horses were central to The late Queen’s life from a very young age. She had her first riding lesson when she was just three years old and was given her first pony, the Shetland mare Peggy, by her grandfather King George V on her fourth birthday.
One of The late Queen’s favourite horses was Burmese, a mare presented to her by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1969 when they came to perform at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Her Majesty rode Burmese side-saddle for 18 years at the Trooping the Colour ceremony, which celebrates the sovereign’s birthday.
The late Queen was extremely knowledgable about breeding horses and her thoroughbreds won more than 1,600 races. The only British classic to elude her was The Derby at Epsom. She also bred British native Shetlands, Highlands and Fell ponies, which enjoyed considerable success in the show ring, along with some of her retired racehorses produced by Katie Jerram.
Our former monarch was patron of the British Horse Society, the Fell Pony Society, the Highland Pony Society, the Shire Horse Society, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society and the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.
Her Majesty died on 8 September 2022, aged 96.
‘The iconic image of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment escorting the sovereign represents the best of British pageantry to the world so there was no room for compromise; nothing short of excellence would do’
“The 2021 edition of Royal Windsor Horse Show is going to be very special and to have such a high calibre of national competition is really exciting”
Her Majesty’s three-year-old colt proved better than his rivals over seven furlongs on the Rowley Mile
The stables wrote to The Queen and have received an invitation to visit the Royal Mews, when pandemic restrictions allow
The gelding joins the Queen’s Barbers Shop at showing producer Katie Jerram–Hunnable’s yard where he will retrain for his new career
The foal was born on The Queen’s official birthday, 21 April
A public vote will decide which photographs will star in the calendar, opening on the stud’s Facebook page on 1 August
Having your favourite steed immortalised in a painting is up there on most horse owners’ wish lists. We find out how to go about it — and the pitfalls to avoid
‘We are thrilled that next week we will be bringing readers our royal special with a first’
‘I think it demonstrates how important the show is for all and how close it is to their hearts’
With the Windsor CDI3* – due to start today – being cancelled due to the coronavirus, we take a look back at some of the most exciting dressage moments from the Royal Windsor Horse Show over the years.
We’ve rewound the clock to remember those early days of this treasured British institution, which was due to run this week pre-coronavirus...
Today (21 April 2020) The Queen marks her 94th birthday. Just eight reasons seems a bit of an injustice when trying to sum up how indebted the horseworld is to The Queen’s passion and commitment to our sport. But to mark her birthday, we’ve made a start...
‘It is a wonderful piece of escapism at a time when we couldn’t need that more’
Louise Robson specialises in retraining ex-racers for dressage and rides three horses owned by The Queen
The role involves all aspects of horse care, including caring for and training of the Queen’s carriage horses and maintaining harnesses
‘We lost Balmoral Lord and Balmoral Hercules within a fortnight of each other; they were our working breeding stallions – in one swoop we lost our 10-year breeding plan’
When it comes to the royals and horses are all your facts and figures in order? Put yourself to the test…
Getting to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which takes place this week (8-12 May 2019), is a career highlight for many — not much beats the prestige of competing in The Queen’s back garden. But things don’t always go to plan...
