At just the tender age of four, Princess Elizabeth was gifted her first pony – a Shetland mare – by her grandfather, King George V.

This present marked the beginning of the little girl’s life-long love of that most majestic of animals, the horse.

Indeed, one of the earliest photos of her, taken in 1937, depicts the bouncing curls, brimmed hat, and broad smile of the future Queen giddily riding on her beloved beast.

‘There’s that wonderful story, to which every horsey child can relate, about her going to visit some of her father King George’s horses when they were being prepped for a big race,’ says Marta Terry of Horse and Hound. ‘She stroked them, and then didn’t wash her hands for the rest of the day. So she’s always been a horse lover.’

Queen Elizabeth II’s obsession with horses started early and translated to an appreciation for many other creatures, with a reputation as an animal lover being one of her most beloved attributes. The subsequent ownership of her corgis, multiple horses, two giant turtles, elephant, sloth and two jaguars over the years all prove her majesty’s special affinity towards the planet’s many creatures – great and small.

As she approached her teenage years, Princess Elizabeth’s love of horses didn’t diminish. She could often be seen riding alongside her father and younger sister, Margaret, being instructed in riding lessons on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

At 16, her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and father took their daughter to visit Fred Darlings’ stables and it was there she was introduced to Big Game, the horse who had won the 2000 Guineas for her father, and where her interest in horse racing was born.

To commemorate her wedding, the Aga Khan presented Queen Elizabeth with her first racing horse, Astrakhan, who she debuted at Ascot in October 1949.

Vanity Fair reported that the Queen’s commitment to Royal Ascot at the famous track preceded all other calendar entries; that the horse races were the ‘first engagement to go in her diary at the start of every year’.

However, it was clear that as much as she enjoyed the races, the young monarch was just as happy to swap her seat in the royal box for a turn on the course. ‘She used to love racing down the course before racing officially began,’ racing commentator Brough Scott told Vanity Fair. ‘She probably knows Ascot racecourse better than anyone else.’

When she wasn’t cheering in the stands of races, Queen Elizabeth was riding. Donned in ceremonial uniform, she rode 36 times at the Trooping the Colour military parade, side-saddled alongside 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 musicians, all to mark the Queen’s birthday.

She was spotted on horseback traipsing around Balmoral Castle in Scotland, leading Prince Andrew through Windsor Park, and giving world leaders tours of castle grounds – even well into her later years when others would favour a more restful life.

The Queen spoke of her favourite horses to Horse and Hound magazine: Burmese, who she rode in Trooping the Colour for 18 years, and Sanction, the last home-bred horse she rode. Terry Pendy, the Queen’s head groom, described her to Horse and Hound as a ‘fountain of knowledge in all things equine, you might say a living encyclopaedia.’ Her adoration of horses is evident every time her face lit up when looking at one on the racetrack, in the stable, or at events.

‘The Queen’s love for horses is infectious,’ says Martha Terry. ‘I think that whenever we see her in the public eye, she seems most naturally happy when she is around horses.’