This article first appeared in Issue 16 of Equestrian Life magazine. To see what's in the current edition, click here.

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The Queen and members of the royal family are well known for enjoying the great race meetings and horse trials that Britain has to offer. What is less known is the contribution royalty has made to riding over the centuries.

By JANE O'CONNOR

When the Queen’s horse Estimate won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013, it was a crowning moment in her Jubilee year. The normally reserved monarch most enthusiastically cheered her four-year-old filly on in Britain's most prestigious event for stayers. Queen Elizabeth II was beaming when Estimate crossed the line, because it made her the first reigning British monarch to win the race in its 206-year-history.

As London's Daily Mail described it: "The images of the Queen banging on the arms of her throne, as it were, in the Royal Box, with all the enthusiasm of a young girl as her horse bore down on the winning post, offered a human side rarely displayed among all the pomp and protocol … She was, for those instants, first and foremost a racing fan, a sports jock even, cheering her horse to victory.''

The first Gold Cup at Ascot race was run in the presence of King George III and Queen Charlotte in 1807. So what, we are tempted to say. It is, after all, deemed "the sport of kings’', with evidence that Henry VIII raced his own horses out of the Royal Stud at Hampton Court in the 16th century. The royal love for horses has survived the test of time, despite the fact that the Royal Stud was subjected to austerity cutbacks during World War II and may have remained a privately-funded hobby, along with the sort of riding that goes along with country estates and holidays. Now, its viability, its expansion and its stamp on British racing have all been earned on merit. Credit for that belongs to Queen Elizabeth and her deep personal interest in the bloodlines and breeding. Not from a distance, but at ground level, where she personally inspects, assesses and names every newborn foal.

Away from Royal Ascot, in her private retreat at Balmoral in Scotland, the jockeys' silks give way to her equally keen interest in breeding Shetland Ponies. At Hampton Court, the Fell Ponies hold sway. In both instances, the Queen strives to enhance and preserve these breeds.

Given that throughout history horses have been a symbol of royal prestige and a mainstay of the aristocracy, along with the means and the landed estates to indulge such pursuits, the temptation is to say that it is in the blood. But, rather than leave it all up to stud masters and employees to keep up traditions, the Queen has been described as a complete ''horse addict'' and they occupy much of her limited leisure time. Her personal equine interests are different to those of her husband, Prince Phillip, daughter Anne, granddaughter Zara Phillips and grandsons William and Harry.

But they too have made a considerable hands-on mark on the equestrian world. For both mother and daughter, Princess Anne and Zara Phillips, to have ridden and succeeded at the most elite international levels in three-day eventing, including the Olympics, requires a great deal of dedication and talent.
 

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And, would British polo be as solid as it is today if King Edward VIII hadn’t introduced Earl Mountbatten of Burma to it, and who in turn got his nephew, Prince Phillip, hooked? The latter went on to cofound the Household Brigade Polo Club in Windsor Great Park. In turn, the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, carried on that tradition as do Princes William and Harry. That members of the royal family and their friends and relatives can be seen taking part in these matches remains an enormous public drawcard and promoter of the sport.

As the male royals have aged and hung up their mallets, the mantle has fallen to the current generation. But, when the Duke of Edinburgh stopped playing, he became president of the International Equestrian Federation and in search of a personal replacement sport. He decided carriage driving was perfect for someone in middle age. By 1973 he had taken it up competitively. That could have remained a bit of sporting fun, but his dogged promotion of the discipline saw him convince the prestigious royal-patronised Windsor Horse Show and other British agricultural shows to organise international driving events. In 2008, the Queen presented the Duke with the Queen’s Medal for Services to Equestrianism. It wasn’t a case of keeping it in the family, given the Queen’s determination to achieve anything equestrian purely on merit. At the time, the Duke wrote:  “I am getting old, my reactions are getting slower, and my memory is unreliable, but I have never lost the sheer pleasure of driving a team through the British countryside. I have been fortunate to have had a longer innings than most, and I have no intention of giving up while I have a team of willing ponies and dedicated staff and while I can still cope with the challenges which carriage driving presents me with.”

The Royal Windsor Horse Show – held over five days in May or June – began in 1943 as a charity fundraiser. The fact the royal family would be in attendance would be enough in itself to attract the crowds. But members of the family compete in the events, again encouraging and attracting new participants to the sport.

The origins of the Queen’s equine passions began in much the same way as with every other royal child. Her Father, King George VI, owned racehorses and her mother was known to be besotted with national hunt racing. The then Princess Elizabeth was surrounded by horses and relatives who owned, rode and talked about them. At just over three, she was put on her first pony at the Royal Mews. For her fourth birthday, her father bought her a Shetland pony named Peggy and she could ride her completely unaided by the age of six. Recently released private film footage shows her confidently keeping pace with her father at that age. By 18 she was an extremely accomplished rider. Royal biographers have also postulated that it was the likes of Peggy and even the first Corgi she owned – again bought from a local breeder by her father – who became the precious childhood companions she could be completely natural with. Along with her late sister, Princess Margaret, she would continue to ride competitively, but in Margaret’s case the desire was never as strong. The Queen still rides today at 88.

The myriad ceremonial duties she inherited after her coronation were also never far from horses. There are the Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays that pull the ceremonial coaches and gun carriages for royal salutes and form part of the Royal Mews. When she first attended the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 1947, she did so on horseback. For 18 consecutive years it was aboard the stunning black mare, Burmese, which she had chosen for the job. From 1987 she has attended in a carriage.

It is perhaps her close involvement with racing that has become best known. The first detailed insight into her racing and breeding credentials came in 2012 when British racing broadcaster, Clare Balding, was given rare access to the Queen and the Royal Stud. The Balding family have trained the Queen’s horses for three generations. The subsequent documentary, The Queen: A Passion For Her Horses, was screened on the BBC in 2013. 

It includes the Queen spending her 87th birthday watching her Thoroughbreds being trained. She also meets every newborn foal, personally naming them, casting an expert eye over them and engaging in a discussion about their merits. She has around 25 horses in training each year and once they have finished racing, she keeps them into retirement. Some credit a wedding gift – a filly named Astrakhan from the Aga Khan – as being the start of her determination as a successful breeder. She also inherited her father’s Thoroughbreds. Prior to World War II, the Royal Stud had won many races, but the subsequent financial cutbacks saw it almost placed on hold as a besieged nation concentrated on the war effort. But, in 1956, the Queen bought the successful broodmare, Stroma. She also began sending her mares to the United States to be covered and brought the stud back into serious contention. In the past 50 years+, she has won over 1600 races. Her major winners have been Pall Mall, Almera and Canisbay.

The Queen has also ensured that each of her children and grandchildren has the opportunity to take up the reins as she did. Their choice of discipline is left to them. How those traditions are upheld and preserved, only time will tell. 
 

This article first appeared in Issue 16 of Equestrian Life magazine. To see what's in the current edition, click here.