Queen Elizabeth II: Fell Pony Society celebrates royal patron

The Queen was photographed on her 96th birthday with two fell ponies bred in Cumbria

The Fell Pony Society has paid tribute to the Queen, who was its patron for 40 years.

Queen Elizabeth II first bred a fell pony in 1952 and she was photographed riding the animals until shortly before her death.

Society chairman Peter Boustead said she made no secret of her love of the ponies and recently received an award.

She was photographed on her 96th birthday with two that were bred near Tebay, Cumbria.

The picture was taken at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and the Queen celebrated the fact the ponies, called Bybeck Nightingale and Bybeck Katie, were bred on the Cumbria fells.

• What happens next after the Queen's death?

• How titles and the line of succession have changed

• What will happen to stamps, coins, banknotes and passports?

Mr Boustead told BBC Radio Cumbria: "She knew they were hill-bred on the Cumbrian fell and the actual breeder had been recently been forced to give up breeding through health, and she just mentioned how sad it was that the number of hill bred ponies was actually declining."

He attended the show to present the Queen with the Queen's Trophy, an award she gave to the Appleby-based society to present to the person who had done the most to promote fell ponies during a year.

"She noticed the first winner was the Duke of Edinburgh who did a lot to promote the fell pony, particularly in driving, and that brought a nice smile to her face," Mr Boustead said.

He said the fact the Queen chose to ride fell ponies over animals well into her 90s "shows how good a temperament the fell pony has".