Happy Birthday Ma'am

The Queen's Official Birthday is the selected day on which the birthday of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently Queen Elizabeth II) is officially celebrated in those countries.

It is celebrated in New Zealand on Monday but is actually not the Queen's true birthday.  The date varies as adopted by each Commonwealth country but is generally around the end of May to the start of June, to coincide with a high probability of fine weather in the Northern Hemisphere for outdoor ceremonies especially the Trooping of the Colour.

The sovereign's birthday was first officially marked in the United Kingdom in 1748. Since then, the date of the king or queen's birthday has been determined throughout the British Empire and later the Commonwealth according to either different royal proclamations issued by the sovereign or governor or by statute laws passed by the local parliament.

The exact date of the celebration today varies from country to country and, except by coincidence, does not fall on the day of the monarch's actual birthday, that of the present monarch Queen Elizabeth being 21 April. In some cases, it is an official public holiday, sometimes coinciding with the celebration of other events. Most Commonwealth realms release a Birthday Honours' List at this time.

In New Zealand, the holiday is the first Monday in June. Celebrations are mainly official, including the Queen's Birthday Honours list and military ceremonies.

Happy Birthday (official) Your Majesty!  We know how much you adore your beloved equines!

As a child, Elizabeth was given her first horse a Shetland pony named Peggy at age four. She was riding her by the age of six. By age 18 she was an accomplished rider and continued to ride for pleasure into her Diamond Jubilee year.

In her role as monarch, Elizabeth has also ridden in a ceremonial role. From her first appearance as sovereign in 1947, she attended the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony on horseback. For eighteen consecutive years from 1969 to 1986, the horse was a black mare named Burmese. From 1987 onwards she has attended in a carriage.

Racing

Queen Elizabeth owns many thoroughbred race horses, having inherited several on the death of her father King George VI in 1952. Her registered racing colours, as worn by the jockeys riding her race horses, are the same as those used by her father and great-grandfather, King Edward VII; a purple and scarlet jacket with gold braiding, with black cap.

As of 2013, horses owned by the Queen have won over 1,600 races including every one of the five British Classic Races, some multiple times, with the exception of the Epsom Derby. She was named British flat racing Champion Owner in 1954 and 1957, the first reigning monarch ever to do so twice.

She has had a 2nd place runner in the Derby in the year of her coronation. Her horse Dunfermline won two of the classics, the Epsom Oaks and St. Leger Stakes, in Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee year of 1977. While she doesn't gamble and is instead said to derive more interest from the outcome of a successful breeding match, she is said to read the Racing Post over breakfast every morning.  Today many races around the world are named in her honour.

Breeding

Queen Elizabeth takes a keen interest in the breeding of her horses and is the patron of the NZ Thoroughbred Breeders' Association. She makes regular visits to observe and assess her animals first hand from birth and beyond. Her horses are foaled at the Royal Stud in the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. As yearlings, they are raised at Polhampton Stud in Hampshire, before being passed on to the training facilities of any one of five trainers.

Once they finish racing, they remain in her care into retirement. Her bloodstock and racing adviser is John Warren, who took over the role from his father in law, Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon, on his death in 2001. He had held the post since 1969.

As well as thoroughbreds, Elizabeth also breeds Shetland ponies at Balmoral in Scotland and Fell ponies at Hampton Court. In 2007 she opened a full-time Highland pony stud at Balmoral to enhance and preserve the breed.

Pageants and shows

Queen Elizabeth hosts the Royal Windsor Horse Show every in Windsor Park, part of the royal estate in Buckinghamshire. In her Diamond Jubilee year, an evening horse themed Diamond Jubilee Pageant was combined with the daytime show.

Equestrian statues

Queen Elizabeth is depicted on horseback in statues in the following places:

Ottawa, Canada (Parliament Hill, unveiled 1992)
Windsor, England (Great Park, unveiled 2003)
Regina, Canada (Legislative Building, unveiled 2005)

Documentaries

In 1974,  Queen Elizabeth's interest in horses was the subject of a documentary title The Queen's Race Horses: a Private View, which she herself narrated. In 2013, as part of the 60th anniversary coronation celebrations, Clare Balding presented the BBC documentary, The Queen: a Passion for Horses.