The Copper Horse

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The Copper Horse is a statue marking the end of the Long Walk at Snow Hill in Windsor Great Park in the English county of Berkshire.

The walk begins at the George IV Gateway at Windsor Castle. The Copper Horse is a statue of George III on horseback which was commissioned by his son, George IV. The statue, it is said, is intended to represent George III as an emperor in the Roman tradition riding without stirrups, along the lines of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius. However other myths about the lack of stirrups are told also.

The statue, commissioned by George IV, bears an ironic inscription: the best of fathers in Latin. Like so many father-son relationships in the Hanoverian family, George III and George IV were known to have despised one another.