Daniel Swaps The Royal Mews for a Life in the Country

After a very grand total of 14 years as an essential member and poster boy for The Royal Mews, elegant Windsor Grey Daniel has joined his fellow Royal Mews veterans Flint, Marsa and Big Tom in the beautiful surroundings of The Horse Trust’s Home of Rest for Horses in Buckinghamshire.

Daniel served at The Royal Mews as a harness horse for HM The Queen’s Carriages. Throughout his working life he took part in innumerable events including; State Visits, The State Opening of Parliament, The Queen’s Birthday Parade, The Garter Service at Windsor Castle and conveying the Queen’s Body Guard to the Palace for Investitures. He also appeared at Royal Ascot and as part of the horse show coaching team at Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Daniel started his career with the Metropolitan Police before transferring to The Royal Mews. One of his regular duties was to convey newly appointed High Commissioners and Foreign Ambassadors to present their credentials to HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays have drawn carriages for the Royal Family since the reign of Queen Victoria as well as providing the postal service as ‘the daily messenger’ setting out from The Royal Mews to collect and deliver post between Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace.

In addition to his ceremonial workload Daniel became something of a celebrity in The Royal Mews with his picture appearing in the official souvenir guide as well as featuring on a 2014 stamp collection by the Royal Mail commemorating Britain’s working horses. In that same year, he and his stable mate Storm were immortalised in a life size statue situated on the Peanut roundabout in Windsor. The artwork was commissioned by residents who had taken up a charitable collection to celebrate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.

Daniel has now retired to the Home of Rest, at the world’s oldest equine charity, where we have been providing retirement and respite for Britain’s working horses and ponies since the days of Anna Sewell’s ground breaking novel “Black Beauty”, the book that inspired the founding of the Home of Rest for Horses over 130 years ago.

Jeanette Allen, our Chief Executive said “For everyone at The Horse Trust, it is a privilege to provide a tranquil retirement for horses and ponies that have served the country or our communities giving them space, grass underfoot and the opportunity to live out their twilight years enjoying the natural ways of just being a horse. Horses working at The Royal Mews belong to the nation and not, as many believe, to the Royal Family; and so, these magnificent animals who have made the nation so proud on ceremonial occasions seen around the world are as welcome here as the horses that have served in the military or police. We will certainly give Daniel a very happy and loving retirement.”