The late Queen was given her first pony when she was just four years old - a Shetland named Peggy.
The birthday gift from her grandfather marked the beginning of a lifelong love of horses and Queen Elizabeth was spotted still riding just months before she died, aged 96.
She was also an avid breeder and entered many of her stable for races, regularly turning up to cheer them on.
This equestrian streak was inherited by younger generations of royals, with Princess Anne and Zara Tindall both competing in British horse riding teams at the Olympics.
The Royals have been a regular sight at racecourses up and down the country, whether National Hunt or flat. Here, as the great Epsom race meeting gets under way - culminating in the Derby tomorrow - we look at some of the Royals' most memorable appearances..
As patron of the Jockey Club - which owns Cheltenham racecourse - Queen Elizabeth was a regular visitor to the four-day festival.
Her own horses have also competed. In 2009, she watched her horse Barbers Shop finish seventh at the Gold Cup.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla are also members of the Jockey Club and Camilla appeared at the Festival this year sporting a glittering racing horse brooch that had belonged to the late Queen.
King Charles has not attended the Festival in person for some time, but a horse called Steal A March bred by the Queen and now owned by Charles and Camilla took part in this year's Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.
Charles raced as an amateur jockey in the Kim Muir Challenge Cup in 1981.
Speaking in an ITV interview, Charles said he had been left in 'silent despair' after his horse, Good Prospect failed at the tenth, leaving the prince on the ground to be 'galloped over'.
Equestrian-loving mother and daughter Princess Anne and Zara are regulars at Cheltenham. Princess Anne sometimes turns up unannounced, going unnoticed by other visitors, according to People.
Camilla and her family are often there, too.
One of the races is named after the Queen Mother.
Previously known as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, the event was renamed the Queen Mother Champion Chase on her 80th birthday in 1980 to say thank you for her commitment to the sport.
In 2015, a new grandstand named after Princess Anne was opened as part of a £45 million redevelopment of the Cheltenham course.
As well as restaurants and a champagne bar, the Princess Royal Stand houses the Royal Box, which features a front and a side view of the racecourse. Ascot racecourse in Berkshire has Queen Anne to thank for its existence. She came upon an area of open heath that looked 'ideal for horses to gallop at full stretch' and founded the racecourse in 1711.
Royal Ascot is held at the racecourse every year in June and was said to be the first event that the Queen would add to her diary.