Burmese (horse)

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Elizabeth II riding Burmese during Trooping the Colour for the last time in 1986

The Queen on Burmese at Windsor in 1982, during a visit by Ronald Reagan, who was lent 8 year old Stallion 'Centennial' for the occasion^[1]

Burmese, a black mare born in 1962, was given to Queen Elizabeth II by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and ridden by Her Majesty for Trooping the Colour for eighteen consecutive years from 1969 to 1986.

Burmese was bred at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Stud at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was trained in Ottawa and in 1969 was presented to the Queen when members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came to the UK to perform in the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

The Queen was mounted on Burmese when six blank shots were fired during the 1981 birthday parade, on the way to Trooping the Colour.^[2] Although the horse was startled, the Queen was able to bring her under control.

Burmese's last public appearance was at Trooping the Colour in 1986, after which she retired. She was not replaced, as the Queen decided to ride in a phaeton (carriage) and review the troops from a dais, rather than train a new charger.^[3]

Burmese was put out to pasture at Windsor Palace park, where she died in 1990. The Queen unveiled a bronze statue in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina, Canada, in 2005, where she is depicted atop Burmese.