Anne: I still ride to keep up with mum
PRINCESS Anne has admitted she is under pressure to continue horse riding – to keep up with the Queen.
Asked if she still rode, the Princess Royal, 69, confessed: “Well my mother still rides, at the age of 93. I don’t think there would be much excuse if I didn’t.”
Anne, who admits that her forthright opinions do not always make her popular, spoke out during a rare interview to Horse & Hound magazine. She was talking about her 50-year involvement in the Riding For The Disabled charity.
She was just 19 when she became its patron in 1969. The royal said: “In some ways, what we do hasn’t changed at all.
“The observation that being on the back of an animal, small or large, can make a huge difference to mental and maybe physical wellbeing is as true today as it was then.”
Anne – whose equestrian career included being the first royal to compete in the Olympics in 1976 – talked about the benefits she has witnessed.
They include seeing children walk for the first time, sit unaided or just get better. She said: “It’s not a eureka moment but bit by bit they become capable of doing something they couldn’t do before.”
But Anne revealed a moment of tension with the prison service over the use of offenders as volunteers. She said: “I did get slightly grumpy when one lady bringing a group of offenders talked about whether it was safe enough for them. I said, ‘It’s not for their benefit!’
“That didn’t go down too well but it does help both groups, that’s the point.”
See the full feature in Horse & Hound.