Queen Elizabeth II is renowned for her love of horses. However, she dealt with an unfortunate event after her buddies died.
Due to the equine grass disease, Queen Elizabeth II now felt wrecked after five of her Highland ponies passed away.
On Monday, Her Majesty’s stud manager Sylvia Ormiston confirmed the shattering news that happened in the last two years. She also revealed that two of the five ponies were stallions.
The deadly disease, reportedly, releases toxins that paralyze an animal’s gut after attacking its nervous system.
Death of Queen Elizabeth II Buddies Could Cripple Balmoral
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Per Express UK, Ormiston spoke up how this will led to a tragic outcome In an interview with the British Horse Society’s Magazine.
For long years, Queen Elizabeth II works to preserve the historic breed of the said Highland ponies. She launched a breeding program for them at Balmoral to keep their rare breed alive.
“Here at Balmoral we are prepared to help in any way we can to make progress towards a cure for this dreadful disease,” the stud manager said.
At first, the disease took a 2-year-old pony’s life before her mother, Clunie, died a day later. Later that same year, Omar, a three-year-old male, died.
In 2018, the stud’s two stallions, Balmoral Lord and Balmoral Hercules, died in just one month.
This event put the breed at risk, but fortunately, the manager already took samples of stud champion Balmoral Lord’s DNA.
They collected the specimen and stored it in Britain’s first livestock gene bank before he died.
Still, the two Highland pony stallion’s deaths could genuinely lead the Balmoral breeding program in danger.
How Helpful the Highland Ponies Are
Apart from Queen Elizabeth II’s buddies, they also use the same type of highland ponies as workhorses around the estate.
The breed truly offers a big help since each of them can carry a massive amount of weight. The horses are also helpful in transporting stag carcasses every hunting season.
Besides, they also carry picnics for the Royal Family and their guests whenever they do photoshoots at Balmoral.
Queen Elizabeth II herself chooses the names of each of the Highland ponies to breed at Balmoral. She also makes sure to see them whenever she visits her residence in Aberdeenshire every summer.
Apart from Highland ponies, she also breeds Fell ponies — another rare breed of the ponies which she still rides to this day.
Featured image courtesy of Presidencia de la República Mexicana/Wikimedia Commons