Winston a chestnut gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

 ridden by both King George VI in 1947 and Queen Elizabeth II in the Trooping the Colour

Trooping the Colour

Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and the Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, although the roots go back much earlier. On battlefields, a regiment's colours, or flags, were used as rallying points...

 ceremony from 1949 to 1956.

Biography

Winston whose sire was Erehwemos, was foaled in Yorkshire in 1937. In 1944 he was sold to the Mounted Branch of the Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Service

The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

. Though named for Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

, the letter "W" was used to name all police horses in 1944. As a police horse, Winston often was present on duty at public events such as the Changing of the Guard before he was selected for Royal duties.

IN 1947, Winston carried King George VI during the first Trooping of the Colour to take place since 1939. Winston participated in various roles in other Royal ceremonial events when not working as a police horse. From 1949-1951, then Princess Elizabeth took her father's place at the ceremony becoming the first British Queen since Elizabeth I to review her troops on horseback. Though other police horse were made available, the Queen always preferred Winston. The year of 1951 led to the future Queen first wearing her red Guards uniform; prior to this she wore a blue uniform.

During the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the ceremony in which the newly ascended monarch, Elizabeth II, was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, and Pakistan, as well as taking on the role of Head of the Commonwealth...

 procession, Winston was ridden by Sir John Nott-Bower

John Nott-Bower

Sir John Reginald Hornby Nott-Bower KCVO KPM OStJ was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the head of the London Metropolitan Police, from 1953 to 1958...

, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...

.

Winston retired from Troopings and other Royal Duties in 1956. Whilst later being ridden by a mounted police officer at the Police mounted training establishment at Thames Ditton

Thames Ditton

Thames Ditton is a village in Surrey, England, bordering Greater London. It is situated 12.2 miles south-west of Charing Cross between the towns of Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Esher and East Molesey...

, Winston slipped and dislocated his back on 7 February 1957, requiring him to be destroyed.

From 1957 the Queen rode a chestnut horse named Imperial.

External links

• Winston: The Royal Mount of Queen Elizabeth II http://www.equestmagazine.com/v3s8/article09-08-c6.php