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Zara Tindallis back in the saddle.
The eldest granddaughter ofQueen Elizabethcompeted in the Osberton International and Young Horse Championships in Worksop, England on Thursday, her first public appearance since the late monarch’s funeral on Sept. 19. Zara, 41, united with the rest of the royal family for the Queen’sfunerary eventsand observed royal mourning through the week after her grandmother was laid to rest.
Zara was all smiles astride her grey gelding Classicals Euro Star, who is affectionately nicknamed Casper. Competing in a dressage event, the pair kept their cool when it started to rain during their time in the ring.
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“I’m not even a direct family member… but watching what my wife, what Zara had to go through, obviously she loved the Queen beyond everything else,” Mike, 43, explained. “Their connection with horses, the same with the Princess Royal, they had a real sort of bond around that.”
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In a heartbreaking tribute, one ofQueen Elizabeth’sfavorite horsesjoined the thousands of mourners that watched her coffin process to Windsor Castle on the day of her funeral.
The late monarch’s beloved fell pony Carlton Lima Emma,whom the Queen rode into her nineties, solemnly stood on the grounds of Windsor as Her Majesty’s coffin made its final journey to St. George’s Chapel.
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The Queen,who died on Sept. 8 at age 96, had a lifelong love of horses, receiving her first pony at age 4. The late monarch rode and owned hundreds of her horses during her reign, but a special few left a lasting impression.
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In a 2020 interview withHorse & Hound, the Queen’s head groom Terry Pendry shared that the monarch counted Emma as one of her favorite horses and that the animal served as one of the Queen’s riding ponies for years.
Emma also participated in thePlatinum Jubileecelebrations,parading in the Windsor Horse Show’s “A Gallop Through History,“a televised event celebrating the late monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
source: people.com
