Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Princess Benedike of Denmark attended the International Horse show at Flyinge in Southern Sweden on Wednesday, November 04th 2009.

Click at the image to get to a gallery at Svenskdam.se

Princess Madeleine just returned home from her month-long stay in New York.
Yesterday the Princess attended a large horse show. Among the participants in the show was also Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, who competes in the World Cup in dressage. Nathalie is the daughter of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, who joined Madeleine.
The two Princesses arrived in a horse-drawn carriage in the large indoor riding school where the show was held.

You can find a gallery here.

Her_Majesty Danish Royals, German Royals, Swedish Royals Horses, Princess Benedikte, Princess Madeleine, Princess Nathalie, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Sport

 Sheikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum won the Kentucky Cup Endurance race which took place in Lexington. The Kentucky Cup endurance is a lead up race for the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games.

The endurance race was a 75mile race which was completed by the Sheikh in 6:05:30. After the win, Sheikh Mayed said “It was amazing. This is the sport that we most love. It’s our history.” He went on saying “Given the weather today, the course was amazing. But the weather made it very difficult. There wasn’t any hard part, other than the ground being a bit slippery. Other than that, it was excellent. There wasn’t anything wrong or bad.”

For more on the topic, visit the ‘Dubai Ruling Family in Endurance Races’ thread.

dazzling UAE Royals Horse Racing, Horses, Sheikh Mayed bin Mohammed, Sport

His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai won the 120-km Euston Park Endurance ride which took place on Monday. Sheikh Mohammed completed the race in 5 hours 7 minutes and 47 seconds while Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum won 2nd place. The royals competed against 118.

The FEI has found Sheikh Mohammed guilty of doping which leads to a six month ban. Sheikh Mohammed rode his horse in Januray and in February the FEI in a statement said: “In both events, the horse was ridden by Sheikh Mohammed who is the person responsible.” Sheikh Mohammed said he had no knowledge of the doping while the trainer admitted to the doping of the horses for the two 120km races in Dubai.

dazzling UAE Royals Horse Racing, Horses, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

Click to see the gallery at Zimbio

 Royal Ascot may be just over a week away but royal watchers got a small taste of the high fashion and hats that will be on show when the Queen, Princess Alexandra of Kent and Princess Haya of Jordan attended Derby Day at Epsom on Saturday.

The Queen wore a pretty pink herring-bone coat with a matching trilby shaped hat. image This outfit had been worn a number of times in the last year since it had its first appearance at the Easter Sunday service in 2008. The gold brooch with large rubies and diamonds (image) worn by the Queen had been designed by Andrew Grima in 1966 and won the Duke of Edinburgh’s Prize for Elegant Design. image The Queen in the last number of years has matched the colour of her outfit the handle and the trim on her see-through umbrella. image

Princess Alexandra wore a very typical ‘Alexandra’ style outfit – a grey coloured long jacket with pleated skirt. image The traditional wide brimmed hat adorned with netting matched the outfit perfectly and Alexandra added a touch of colour with a patterned scarf. image

Princess Haya wore a classic black coat over a white dress. image Her black hat adorned with an oversized bow had been previously seen at the 2008 Royal Ascot meeting. (image – June 2008) image (the Queen with Princess Haya)

Fashion watchers can now eagerly await Royal Ascot next week.

PrincessofEurope British Royals Elizabeth II, Fashion, Horses, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess Haya

Click to see the gallery at WAM

  His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and his wife HRH Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain met with Queen Elizabeth II of England while attending the Epsom Derby race.

Sheikh Mohammed and Queen Elizabeth talked about horse racing in England and in Dubai, as well as the horses owned by Sheikh Mohammed. Queen Elizabeth wished Sheikh Mohammed all the best in the racing world.

Sheikh Mohammed attends the Epsom races on yearly basis. Last year, Princess Haya’s horse “True Colors” won the race. The colt was a gift to her from Sheikh Mohammed.

dazzling British Royals, UAE Royals Elizabeth II, Horse Racing, Horses, Princess Haya, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

Click the image to see the photo at the Hereford Times

 This week was an eventful one for Zara Phillips, daughter of the Princess Royal. Fans who were used to seeing Zara on Toytown or Ardfield Magic Star were surprised on Thursday to see her with some new faces at the Lackham horse trials in Wiltshire, England (see this article for more news). This was followed by a rousing win at the racetrack on Saturday of a Zara-trained horse at Bredawardine (see this article for more news). Racehorse owner and proud mum, Princess Anne the Princess Royal, was on hand to enjoy the win and give credit to her daughter for her horse’s amazing finish.

The atmosphere at the Lackham College grounds was so conducive to the younger, green horses that famous riders we saw at Badminton brought their younger horses for a good, low-stress competition. Zara brought out two of her lesser-known horses, Young Smoke and Petition, to compete at the lower-level event for the first time. Though they finished at 10th and 14th, Zara was very pleased with their performance, for Petition finished the trials for the first time in his young career. Aussie star Sam Griffiths brought his one year old horse, Deanes San Ciro Hit. Sam mentioned, “At this level, it is so important to give the horse plenty of confidence and that’s exactly what this venue affords.” Given Toytown’s injury and Ardfield Magic Star’s going lame at Badminton, it is probably wise for Zara to give her two younger horses some experience. Anything can happen in eventing, and in the event that her two star horses become too aged to compete, it’s certain that Zara will have another special horse or two ready to take the baton, and the trophy!

The day after the horse trials, Zara (bearing a striking resemblance to her cousin Prince William) and her mother went to the track at Bredawardine, and watched the maiden win of the Princess’ mare, Dhu Loch. Anne took no credit for the win, saying Zara did all the work training the five-year-old mare to win her first race in convincing fashion.

ysbel British Royals Horses, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Zara Phillips

Click for the Zimbio gallery

 Windsor Castle has been hosting the Royal Windsor Horse Show and the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo this week. The Royal Windsor Horse Show has been held annually since 1943 and is a favourite of the Queen’s, who regularly puts in an appearance. This year was no exception, and the Queen braved the weather to attend several times. Prince Philip helped out with judging and with presentation of prizes.

On Saturday evening the Queen was presented for the fourth time in her reign with a horse by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The horse, named George, is a product of the RCMP Musical Ride programme. For more details, see this blog entry.

Click for the gallery at Getty Images

However, the most noteworthy event of the week from the point of view of royal watchers came earlier on Saturday, when the Earl and Countess of Wessex appeared at the show with their two children, Lady Louise and James (Viscount Severn). The two Wessex children are very rarely seen in public, their parents preferring to shield them from press attention. Not only did Edward and Sophie bring the children to the event, but also the family posed for photographers. This is the first time James has been seen in public since he was a baby, and the first time that photographers have managed to get good photos of Louise. The photos show that Lady Louise bears an uncanny resemblance to the Queen at the same age. After the recent unfavourable publicity surrounding the York princesses and the subsequent questioning of the need for royal protection officers for the offspring of the Queen’s younger children, it was pleasant to see the Wessex family in a familiarly royal environment.

Lucia-mia British Royals Countess of Wessex, Earl of Wessex, Elizabeth II, Horses, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, RCMP, Royal Windsor Horse Show, Viscount Severn, Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo

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  HRH Princess Haya of Jordan officially open Newmarket Equine Hospital with 300 guests watching and which has been rated as one of the best equine hospitals in Europe. The hospital started accepting horses in Spetember and has recieved over 500 horses.

Princess Haya toured the hospital as well as surgery suits which has been named after Princess Haya, it’s officially known as the HRH Princess Haya of Jordan Surgery Suite.

Princess Haya said about the new hospital “It is a wonderful facility,” and talking to the Journal the Princess added “Newmarket is known as the centre of horseracing and I think it is wonderful that it now has this facility which will enrich horse medicine through Europe.”

Senior partner of Newmarket Equine Hospital, David Ellis said of Princess Haya opening the hospital “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Princess Haya to Newmarket Equine Hospital and are thrilled that Her Royal Highness agreed to officially open the new facility of which we are immensely proud and will enable us to provide an even better service for all our clients.”

dazzling Jordanian Royals, UAE Royals Horses, Princess Haya

Click the image to see the photo at wbfsh.org

Royals usually give out the trophies not receive them, but how unusual must it be to receive a trophy in your own name?

Princess Benedikte, sister of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, had this unique experience when she was awarded her own Challenge Trophy by the Danish Warmblood Society this past March. The Danish Warmblood Society, of which the Princess is patron, is the pre-eminent Danish association for breeders of Danish Warmblood horses. These large and powerful, yet graceful horses are making their way into the top levels of equestrian competition including the Olympics, particularly in the area of dressage.

This past March, the princess was awarded the Princess Benedikte Challenger trophy for her stallion, Digby, who has had outstanding success at last year’s Beijing Olympics with Benedikte’s daughter, Princess Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, The Danish Warmblood Society awards the Challenger Trophy to a stallion, which is licensed within Danish Warmblood and who by his own performance or as sire of competition horses have come to the fore in equestrian events in the previous year. Nathalie and Digby had topped off their success by helping the Danish dressage team secure a bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics.

Click to see the photo at staerebogaard.dk

Click to see the photo at thedaily.com.au

Princess Benedikte fondly remembered her first thrilling ride as a little girl on a gigantic native Danish horse. Her mother, the late Queen Ingrid of Denmark, saw her interest and bought a more child-size pony for the young princess to ride. At that time, Benedikte remembers, there were no small horses in Denmark, so Queen Ingrid had to import a pony from England. Now, Princess Benedikte is the most successful breeder of the Danish Warmblood in Denmark and her horses are drawing attention to discerning competitors across the Atlantic. In 2005, she sold a foal to an American for $18,000, Certainly the princess should be thrilled at the success of the breed in international competition. In last year’s Olympics at Beijing, several nations featured her beloved Danish Warmblood on their teams.

ysbel Danish Royals, German Royals Awards, Horses, Princess Benedikte, Princess Nathalie, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

 Representing Monaco, Charlotte Casiraghi was in Valencia, Spain for the Global Champions Tour over the weekend.  She won 125 Euros and a very respectable 11th place on her horse “GI-Joe” during a show jumping competition where she competed with the likes of Athina Onassis.

Click for Photos at Belga

Charlotte, the eldest daughter and middle child of Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Hanover and her second husband, the late Stefano Casiraghi has been competing on a semi professional basis since 1998.

While in Spain, the princess made an appearance at a Gala held to honor King Juan Carlos’ eldest sister Infanta Pilar of Spain, who has been a longtime supporter of the sport.  The Gala drew many dignitaries and competitors including Infanta Elena of Spain.  Charlotte wowed while walking the events red carpet.  She had her long hair down for the occasion and was dressed in a fitting, strapless, mid thigh length black dress with a chic light blue long scarf and silver high heels.

More information and photos are available in this thread.

Sg1Fan Monaco Royals Charlotte Casiraghi, Horses