During a recent visit to a stud farm in Slovenia, the Queen was presented with a gift of a rare Lipizzaner Stallion.

The 16 year old stallion, Kanizo, is one of only 9,000 Lipizzaner horses in the world. The horses are born black but turn white as they mature.

The riding centre in Lipica is famous for breeding the beautiful white horses used by the Spanish Riding School of Vienna where they are trained to perform difficult moves such as the levade, courbette and capriole.

The Queen has requested that Kanizo remains at stud in Lipica where he can be properly cared for.

A horse in Pullman, West Virginia had to be released from a tree by a chainsaw wielding neighbour after getting her head wedged in its trunk.

Mr Harschbarger heard the filly making strange noises so he ran up to her field and spotted her predicament. He quickly ran back down to his vehicle and got his chainsaw and ratchet strap. His initial attempts to free her with the ratchet strap failed so he had no choice but to fire up the chainsaw.

As he began cutting the tree, Gracie spooked and reared up three times. She managed to free her head but unfortunately when she landed the third time her leg fell back into the trunk and she became stuck once more.

A further 20 minutes of chainsaw work finally freed Gracie. She suffered some minor cuts, nerve damage to her nose and lips and a dislocated jaw.

Thankfully she is now recovering and is able to eat on her own again.

Madonna’s fall from her horse in 2005 is being blamed as one of the reasons for her and Guy Ritchie filing for divorce.

Madonna broke eight bones in the fall including four ribs, her collar bone, scapula and her left knuckle. Madonna claims that Guy Ritchie was ‘unsympathetic’ and commented ‘You’re a tough bird. You’ll be back on the horse in no time”.

What Madonna expected was love and sympathy. Instead she got the typically, emotionally stunted reaction of many British men.

Sources say that the horse riding accident has been the source of many arguments and that Madonna felt she was wrong to marry Guy after receiving such a lack of support.
The couple are expected to divorce by Christmas.

Mourners in Ipswich, Surrey watched in horror as a horse drawn hearse overturned after hitting a bollard, throwing it’s driver and two grooms onto the ground. They suffered minor injuries including an injured hip, pelvis and a broken nose.

The funeral procession ground to a halt as the coffin, carrying the body of 79 year old Caroline Thompson, was dislodged inside the badly damaged antique carriage.

A 3 foot high garden wall was demolished by the falling carriage and two of the horses broke free and bolted, damaging two cars.

The coffin was eventually transferred to another hearse and the funeral commenced two hours later than originally scheduled.

A horse in Gorj county, Romania has been tested for alcohol after the cart it was pulling hit and killed an 86 year old man who was sat on a bench outside his house.

The owner had just bought the horse from a fair and was using it to pull a cart home. Police suspect that the horse had been given alcohol to make it look stronger and healthier before it was sold.

Witnesses told police that the horse looked out of control, despite the owners attempts to control it.

The horse was allowed home after it was tied up outside the police station to sober up.