IN A sight that resonated for the equestrian community around the world, horses and horsefolk gathered on a Perthshire hillside to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II as she passed through on her last journey out of Scotland on Sunday.
Emma Cheape, a competitive rider and a former photographer with The Scottish Farmer, organised the event on the spur of the moment, and has since been stunned by the attention it has received.
"I've had so many people message me from all over the world thanking me for what we did," said Ms Cheape. "Messages from Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, thanking me on behalf of the equestrian community, saying that they were glad that we'd been there to represent them, and show our respects."
Read more: Aberdeenshire farmers salute Queen Elizabeth II on her last journey through Scotland
Last Saturday night, when it became clear that Her Majesty's funeral cortege was going to pass along the M90 where it borders the Cheape family's fields, on Pitillock Farm, near Glenfarg, Emma posted on her social media account that she had a hillside with a clear view of the road, and provided the 'what3words' location to anyone else who might want to come down and join in, particularly on horseback.
To her surprise, the morning brought no less than 32 horses and riders, along with a whole flotilla of horseboxes along the farm road, and 40 or so people on foot.
"Everybody came together – even folk who aren't massively royalist were there because they wanted to show their respects," said Emma.
"Then what was really amazing, like the horses knew – they all stood in line for 40 minutes, holding that line, on the spot, perfectly behaved.
"You sometimes get horses not wanting to stand, but on that hill they were at peace. We stood further up to start with, then moved down closer to the road as the helicopters passed and we knew the cars were approaching. The southbound road was quiet – the moment was amazing and eerie at the same time.
"When the Royal cars passed, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence spotted us and waved," added Emma. "We were all really glad that we were there to pay our respects. It felt right."
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