06/10/2026
I hope to ride to this age.
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On the morning of July 18, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II climbed into the saddle at Windsor Castle for what would become the final horseback ride of her life.
She was 96 years old. Her beloved Fell pony, Carltonlima Emma, was 26.
For decades, horses had been one of the Queen’s greatest passions. Through world events, royal duties, and historic milestones, riding remained one of the few places where she could truly relax. Even in her nineties, she continued to spend time in the saddle whenever she could.
That morning, her trusted head stud groom and manager, Terry Pendry, walked alongside Emma rather than riding ahead. Pendry had served the Queen for 28 years and knew her better than almost anyone in the royal stables.
As they rode together, the Queen looked down from the saddle and quietly remarked:
“This hasn’t happened to me since I was a princess — someone walking alongside me like this.”
Moved by the moment, Pendry suggested taking a photograph. He joked that a 96-year-old Queen riding a 26-year-old pony had to be some sort of record and later sent the picture to Her Majesty for her scrapbook.
The following day, before departing for Balmoral, the Queen visited the stables to say goodbye to Emma. As she was leaving, she turned to Pendry with a mischievous smile and told him he had been very rude to her.
Confused, he asked what he had done.
“You said my age,” she replied before bursting into laughter.
It was the last time he would ever see her.
Over the years, Pendry had quietly adapted to the Queen’s advancing age. A new step had been added to her mounting block almost every year, and by the end he was helping her dismount after rides. Having known her for nearly three decades, he could sense that her health was fading, though her determination to keep riding never did.
Emma had arrived at the Royal Mews as a four-year-old pony from Murthwaite Stud Farm in Cumbria. For nearly twenty years she carried the Queen through Windsor Great Park and became what many close to the monarch described as her most cherished equine companion during the final chapter of her life.
When Queen Elizabeth II passed away at Balmoral on September 8, 2022, Pendry knew exactly how Emma should pay her respects.
On the day of the committal service at St George’s Chapel, Emma stood quietly beside the Long Walk in Windsor. She wore the Queen’s favourite white sheepskin saddle, draped with a Hermès silk headscarf decorated with horses and carriages—the same scarf the Queen had famously worn while riding Emma years earlier.
As the late monarch’s coffin passed by, Emma stood in silence. Witnesses recalled the poignant scene as one of the most emotional moments of the entire funeral procession.
Later that year, Horse & Hound named Emma their Horse of a Lifetime.
For millions watching around the world, the image of the Queen’s faithful pony waiting beside the Long Walk became a powerful symbol of loyalty, friendship, and a lifelong love of horses.
It was a final farewell between a Queen and the pony who had carried her through some of the happiest moments of her later years.
