The Queen was all smiles yesterday during the 3rd day of the 5-day Royal Windsor Horse Show; Her Majesty has attended the show which is held in virtually her own backyard at Windsor Park for the past 72 years. She spent the day with Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, King of Bahrain and her son, Prince Andrew. She celebrated the 3rd year her horse, Barber’s Shop won the RoR Tattersalls Thoroughbred Ridden Show.
Rider Katie Jerram rode the horse to success in the showing category. The Queen collected a trophy after the win. In the showing category, horses are judged on their appearance, movement and physique. The Duke of Edinburgh made an appearance driving a carriage on the 1st day of the show. This only a week after announcing his retirement from public life in the fall. He steered a carriage with a whip in one hand and reins in the other.
The Duke told a US competitor earlier this week about how he started racing carriages. The Telegraph reported: “All the carriages were antiques and we had a thing called the Balmoral dog cart, it’s still in the stable, it had to be rebuilt every year because it got smashed up regularly.”
The Duke worked to establish the sport. He competed well into his 80’s.
He said: “I started driving because I’d been playing polo, and I decided I’d give up polo when I was 50.
“I was looking ’round to see what next, I didn’t know what there was available. And I suddenly thought, well, we’ve got horses and carriages so why don’t I have a go.
“So I borrowed four horses from the stables in London, took them to Norfolk and practised and thought – why not?”
The Royal Windsor Horse Show is said to be the Queen’s favourite equestrian event. It is the largest outdoor horse show in the UK. It features international competitions in several disciplines such as jumping, dressage, endurance and showing. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh competed in the horse show when they were younger.
The gala, which is rumoured to be Her Majesty’s favourite event of the show started in 1943. It was first utilised as a fundraiser to help the war effort.
