Queen’s Favourite Horse Retires at 22
Daniel, the Queens favourite carriage horse, has been retired this week.
Free to gallop the fields at the 200 acre Horse Trust, where he will spend the rest of his retirement days, the Royal Mews member was not only presented on a postage stamp in 2014, but was also included in the line-up of horses responsible for pulling the Queen’s carriage, for 15 years.
The 22-year-old grey gelding, was head of the carriage pulling team for William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.
Living life to the full, Daniel was present for the State Opening of Parliament, Her Majesty’s birthday parade and the Garter Day of procession through the Royal Windsor grounds.
To mark the Queen’s Jubilee in 2012, a statue was commissioned that now stands proud on the roundabout at Longwalk, Windsor. The bronze sculpture of the two horses trotting across a paddock, cost £200,000. The second horse to accompany Daniel in the sculpture is a grey called Storm. The Queen was said to have recognised the figure of the horse as Daniel, immediately upon the unveiling.
The Queen, now 91, is somewhat of an expert when it comes to her horses and still enjoys riding across Windsor to this day.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.