Five of Queen Elizabeth's ponies have died from a "dreadful" disease.
The 94-year-old monarch has seen a number of the Highland ponies, which are kept at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, pass away over the last two years after contracting equine grass sickness, which is believed to be triggered by toxins that attack the nervous system and eventually paralyse the animal's gut.
Stud manager Sylvia Ormiston, who has run the Balmoral stud since 2007, called for further research to tackle to condition.
She told the British Horse Society's magazine: "Here at Balmoral we are prepared to help in any way we can to make progress towards a cure for this dreadful disease."
Sylvia explained how "sweet two-year-old filly" Friendly was the first to die, followed by her mother just a day later. Later that year, a three-year-old male named Omar passed away, and in 2018, the stud's two stallions, Balmoral Lord and Balmoral Hercules, died within two weeks of each other.
