Who said Zoom chats were just for humans? According to Princess Anne, animals—specifically horses—can take part in video calls too.
On Wednesday, the Princess Royal participated in a video chat with riders and volunteers from the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA). The organization, of which Anne is president, provides therapy through horse riding to over 25,000 disabled adults and children across the U.K.
According to the royal family, during the chat, the 69-year-old learned how the community has adapted to stay in touch with one another (virtually, of course) during the current pandemic. In fact, the members told the princess that they’ve even taken part in video chats with horses. We’re serious.
At first, this sounded a little crazy to us. However, we imagine this is something Anne would totally be on board with, considering she began riding at such a young age and horses have played such a major role in her life since. Not only is she the vice president of the British Horse Society (the U.K.’s leading equine charity), she’s also a longtime celebrated equestrian and competed in the 1976 Olympic Games’ three-day equestrian event on her mother’s horse.
The queen’s only daughter, of course, inherited her interest in horseback riding from her mother, Queen Elizabeth, who continues to ride at 94 years old. Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, is also an equestrian and took home the silver medal at the 2012 Olympics.
Can we make video chatting with horses a more common thing?