Queen Elizabeth Is Celebrating Her Birthday with a New Portrait Showcasing Her Love of Horses

Happy birthday to Queen Elizabeth! Today, she is marking her 96th year and displaying her love of horses, too. The monarch can be seen in a new portrait released by the Royal Windsor Horse Show standing on the grounds of Windsor Castle with company, People reports. The Queen stood in-between her two fell ponies, Bybeck Katie and Bybeck Nightingale.

Queen Elizabeth got her first horse, a Shetland pony, when she was four years old. She's also a big fan of horse races and cheers on her stallions at events. While the royal family matriarch enjoys riding horses, she hasn't gotten back to this beloved hobby since September, so standing alongside her ponies for the portrait was undoubtedly a treat for her. "She adores riding, and it has been part of her ritual for most of her life," a source previously told The Sun.

Her Majesty the Queen has a shared love of horses in common with Martha. As seen pictured above, our founder has struck a pose in a portrait similar to the monarch, too. Here, she stands in-between her Friesian horses at her Bedford, New York, farm. Martha has raised over 10 horses throughout her life and notes that they get regular dental cleanings, acupuncture, and take trips to Maine.

"Beautiful, friendly Friesian horses became the focal point of the farm life, drawing carriages along dirt roads and offering big, comfortable 'seats' to my friends and me for long weekend rides along the many miles of trails preserved by the Bedford Riding Lanes Association," Martha previously shared. "Needless to say, the horses' manure has become an integral part of the massive composting system we've built on one part of the farm."