Queen Elizabeth II and the late Californian horse trainer Monty Roberts collaborated to establish a charity using horses to help British military veterans and emergency workers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Roberts, who found fame as a horse whisperer, died three weeks ago at the age of 91. The pair forged an unlikely friendship based on his pioneering techniques for breaking in horses using gentle persuasion rather than brutality.
The Mail on Sunday reported the extent of their unique collaboration, which led to the creation of Warrior Equine. The charity provides equine therapy sessions to restore the health and sanity of traumatised soldiers and police officers.
The Queen was a lifelong horse enthusiast and breeder. PTSD is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events, including military combat or emergency response work.
Treating US servicemen
The Queen learned that Roberts was using his horses to assist thousands of United States servicemen at his California ranch. According to royal biographer Hugo Vickers, who is updating his book Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History, the monarch decided a similar programme was needed in Britain.
"The Queen wanted this to develop in the United Kingdom and across the world," Vickers said.
Roberts began running short courses for British military personnel through the Help For Heroes charity in 2014. The sessions proved highly successful.
"At this point, the Queen was taking a private interest," Vickers said. "The organisers produced a report after each session and it went to Her Majesty. In 2017, she asked Sir Redmond Watt, Major-General of the Household Division, to become involved and he has continued to be massively supportive with access to military personnel."
Windsor Castle demonstration
"In 2019, the Queen invited the team to the Royal Mews at Windsor Castle to give her a private demonstration," Vickers said. "She told Terry Pendry, her groom, that they could use any of her horses, and some veterans who had already completed the course went through their paces."
Vickers said a planned 15 minute tea afterwards extended to over an hour. "One person who was there told me that Her Majesty sat at a table of six, including two veterans and a Welsh Guards colonel," he said.
"There was 'joy in her face' when she heard the stories, including one from a man whose life had effectively been saved from the threat of suicide."
Ele Milwright organised the British clinics and launched Warrior Equine in 2019 with the Queen's backing. The charity now works with the Army, the Navy, the Household Cavalry, The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and emergency services.
Unique psychological strains
"I know that the Queen very much wanted this to happen," Milwright said. "Her Majesty wanted us to widen our work beyond what we'd done with Help For Heroes to include serving personnel and workers from the emergency services. She recognised the unique strains and enormous psychological pressures and difficulties they faced in the course of their duty."
"Having had the privilege of sitting down with the Queen and hearing first-hand her support, I was determined to repay her faith in us. She was very much the catalyst."
The documentary The Cowboy And The Queen was one of the last films Elizabeth made, highlighting Roberts' work.
Hollywood casting mixup
Their working relationship initially faced hurdles. "The Queen knew her retired Crown Equerry, Sir John Miller, was to visit friends in California, and she sent him to the ranch to see what Roberts was doing," Vickers said.
"When this moustached figure arrived, Roberts took one look at him and thought he came straight from casting in Hollywood."
"Roberts was convinced the visit was a practical joke arranged by his neighbours. Miller thought Roberts was a charlatan who was using concealed sugar lumps to tame the horses," he said.
"The two men gradually became impressed by their respective equestrian knowledge and skills, however. Miller gave the Queen a favourable report, so she invited Roberts to Windsor in April 1989."
"The Queen watched him at work in the Royal Mews, as did the Queen Mother and Prince Philip," Vickers added. "Roberts tamed 23 horses in five days, getting one rider into the saddle in 29 minutes."
According to Vickers, Pendry adopted Roberts' methods and introduced them to the Household Cavalry. The groom later said the trainer "did more for the animal kingdom than anyone".
Roberts, who was a regular visitor to the Royal stables for 35 years, credited the monarch with transforming horsemanship.
"Her Majesty took my work to the world and, with her influence, the world is changing dramatically away from violence in training horses," Roberts said.
