The equestrian world pays tribute to The Queen who was "a true and passionate" equestrian

Her introduction to horses came at the age of two when, in the autumn of 1928, she accompanied her parents to Naseby Hall in Northamptonshire for the hunting season.

From a child she became a keen rider and in 1938, riding instructor Horace Smith began giving Elizabeth and her sister Margaret twice-weekly lessons at the palace.

It is said that on one occasion she told Mr Smith that “had she not been who she was, she would like to be a lady living in the country with lots of horses and dogs”.

The Queen’s cousin, Margaret Rhodes, described how important the animals were to her when she acceded to the throne.

“You see, I think that early on, when she became Queen, I think that she had to sacrifice within herself an awful lot of emotions and thoughts of the future and everything else,” Mrs Rhodes told the BBC One documentary The Queen: A Passion For Horses.

“But I think with horses it’s another world in that it reduces you to just the person in relation to the animal, and you’re not a queen, you’re just a human being.”

After 1945, the horse world became the future Queen’s chief relaxation and escape, and she was to expand her interest in horse management and breeding.

British Eventing’s Performance Manager, Richard Waygood MBE spent seven years serving as her Riding Master in the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

He said: “She would come down and watch the horses work at the barracks sometimes or I would take them up and she would watch them in the grounds of Windsor Castle from time to time. I was able to use the facilities in and around the Castle, which was fantastic.

Recalling one particular Saturday morning he said: “Her Majesty had given permission for me to bring the riding instructors serving at the time down from Knightsbridge to have a picture taken with the Castle as a backdrop. Her Majesty joined us for the picture, and not only did she join us, but she spent over an hour and half talking to every soldier there.

"There were 21 guys and she spoke to every single one of them, asking them about their careers and about their horses. It was something that she absolutely didn’t need to do on a Saturday morning but that was just the mark of the hugely respected Sovereign that she was.

"The equestrian world is extremely fortunate to have had The Queen so interested in equestrianism. Obviously, she has owned some great event horses with Captain Mark Phillips, Princess Anne and Zara, but to also have the National Hunt and Flat Racehorses, carriage horses, ceremonial horses, hacking horses, Highland Ponies – the list just goes on. We are incredibly lucky to have had her influence, together with that of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, to bring people into the horse world.”

She become Patron of The British Horse Society in 1952, the same year she became Queen, and she continued to honour the Society with her patronage throughout her life.

The Society said that her influence benefitted her fellow equestrians and boosted the welfare and wellbeing of horses themselves.

A statement added: “Her Majesty’s deep love of equines of all breeds, and her boundless enjoyment and support of all disciplines, shone through right from her earliest childhood to the last year of her life.

"Many will have particularly fond memories of her relaxed and radiant smiles at the equestrian events she loved. The heartfelt connection she demonstrated for her horses clearly communicated to the rest of the world what those of us in equestrianism are lucky enough to already understand: just how remarkable horses truly are.”

In her later years, the Queen loved to ride and did so whenever she could, at Windsor, Sandringham and Balmoral.

Charles Britton, Chairman of British Showjumping said: “In June this year, not only did we celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Jubilee but it was also a year that signified 70 years of her Patronage of British Showjumping, a fact of which we are all very proud.”British Olympian David Broome CBE added: “Her Majesty always, always appreciated horses. What an example Her Majesty gave to all horse people of how to just get on with life; riding out, even in her nineties - that was just phenomenal.”