Both the King and Queen are passionately fond of horses, and Her Majesty pays a daily visit when at Sandringham to her pony-stable, which was built in 1874 for her four French ponies, who were afterwards succeeded by equally valuable animals of British extraction. Bina, Merry-Antics, Bow, and Bell were the fortunate occupants of this model pony-stable, which is considered the prettiest building of the kind in the world, the walls being lined with white tiles, picked out in green glazed bricks, finished at the top by a green-tiled frieze and an open wooden roof. Above each manger was recorded in gold letters the name of the pony occupying the stall. Queen Alexandra at one time was very fond of driving tandem, and she has one of the best tandem teams in Great Britain. She is very fond of bay horses, and possesses also a pair of the famous greys bred in the Imperial stables at Leipzig. For many years Her Majesty always rode Kinsky, a Hungarian horse; and she was said to be one of the best horsewomen in Norfolk.
Queen Alexandra at Sandringham
From a Photograph by Thomas Fall
The saddle-room is not the least fascinating portion of the stable-yard. Much of the harness is silver and gold-plated. Queen Alexandra has always preferred brown harness to black, and all that used by her is made in tan leather, with brass mounts.
There are a number of interesting photographs and paintings, including a picture in oils of a very beautiful chestnut mare, Victoria, long ridden by the Queen, and given to her when she was a bride by Queen Victoria. Below this portrait of a departed favourite is one of her hoofs mounted in silver, with the name of the owner written across. There are some valuable prints of celebrated trainers and jockeys, with some of the latter’s whips, spurs, and caps. A “Vanity Fair” cartoon of the King, surrounded by a number of his friends at Newmarket, is also given a prominent place in the Sandringham saddle-room; and not the least interesting memento now there is Mr. John Porter’s silver-wedding gift to his Royal patrons. In a silver frame, surmounted by the Prince of Wales’s feathers, is a white velvet tablet with the name “Ormonde” woven from the famous race-horse’s hair. The border contains pieces of the hair of thirty-three famous winners, the name of each being in silver letters beneath. Close by is to be seen the racing-saddle generally used by Fred Archer.
Parallel with the stables runs the building known as the kennels. At one time, in the paddock between the stables and the kennels, there was a bear-pit, but the occupant thereof was sent to the Zoo after the King’s valued head-keeper, Mr. Jackson, had been hunted by Bruin just when he was about to feed him with some peculiarly bearish delicacy. This corner of Sandringham is by no means confined to horses and dogs. Here also were kept some of Queen Alexandra’s pet cats; a number of doves descended from the single pair presented to Her Majesty during her first visit to Ireland; her Australian pigeons, quite unlike the more humble home variety; a Barbary dove belonging to the Duchess of Cornwall and York; and some very fine water-fowl, to say nothing of “Cockie,” the Princess of Wales’s cockatoo, who was said to be over a hundred years old.
The kennels are, in their way, quite as fine as the stables. They are very cleverly arranged, all fitted with hot-water pipes, and admirably ventilated. The dogs are exercised in the park, in three paddocks in front of the kennels, or in a large yard paved with red, blue, and brick tiles. All the food consumed in the kennels comes from special kitchens attached to the building. There is also a dog hospital and a nursery, always occupied by one or more litters.
