The Queen honours retiring Royal Parks Shire horse
The Queen has honoured a 17.3hh Shire who has retired after 10 years service with The Royal Parks Agency.
Nineteen-year-old Jed – who helped with the maintenance and upkeep of the Royal Parks in London – was presented with a retirement rosette by Her Majesty on 15 May, at a Jubilee event in Richmond Park.
He will now retire to The Horse Trust in Buckinghamshire, which provides a retreat for working horses.
“Jed has been a loyal serving Shire and invaluable to the work undertaken in the Royal Parks,” said Sandra Croxall from The Royal Parks team.
“We are delighted that he has a wonderful new home at The Horse Trust, where he can live out the rest of his days peacefully,” she added.
Jed was bought as one of a pair from Bass Brewery, Burton on Trent in 1998 to help with the estate management.
His work – which was predominately in Richmond Park – included road verge cutting, rolling bracken and chain harrowing bridleways and paddocks.
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Two years ago Jed was semi-retired when he started to suffer from arthritis and his working partner Forte died.
Since then he has undertaken public engagements such as the heavy horse parade in Portsmouth.
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