The Queen's Horse: Gift of the Mounties

Nora D.S. Robins is co-ordinator of Internal Collections at the
University of Calgary Libraries.

The Queen’s Birthday Parade is probably the most colorful state
ceremony in the world. For 18 years, the horse ridden by the Queen on
this occasion was a very special Canadian horse named Burmese.

Based on real-life events, The Queen’s Horse is the story of a young
girl and her horse. Tammy, 11, lives with her parents at the RCMP
breeding ranch at Fort Walsh in southern Saskatchewan. Her horse,
Blackie, is too small to become a police horse, but because she
possesses perfect confirmation and color, the RCMP decide to move her to
their stables in Regina for training as an equestrian horse. Tammy is
upset at first, but after a visit to Regina to see the RCMP Musical
Ride, she decides that the best thing in the world for Blackie would be
to become part of the ride. How Blackie, now called “Burmese,”
becomes the Queen’s favorite horse occupies the rest of the story.

This simply told tale is full of information about horses, which will
make it popular with girls, in particular. Nora Kelly is the author of
The Men of the Mounties and co-author of The Horses of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police: A Pictorial History.