It's not often that Princess Anne makes a joint appearances with her daughter, Zara Tindall, but the mother/daughter duo attended the World Horse Welfare Annual Conference held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Friday, November 21. Both the Princess Royal and Tindall are lifelong equestrians who have competed in the Olympics—Anne in 1976, and her daughter in 2012—and Tindall spoke about the decline in horse welfare over the years.
"If we're talking about legislation and how we have gone back in time, sort of post Brexit, our travel time for horses and their welfare has definitely gone downhill," Tindall, who serves as a patron for the World Horse Welfare charity, said while speaking on stage in a video on the organization's YouTube channel.
"You know, I took a horse abroad at the end of October and I know people are doing it less and less now because it's such hard work," Zara continued. "It's more stressful on the horses than it used to be. It's got worse, although our technology is so much better."
Zara Tindall is pictured at the World Horse Welfare Annual Conference 2025.
Princess Anne is pictured at the World Horse Welfare Annual Conference 2025.
Zara Tindall is pictured at the World Horse Welfare Annual Conference 2025.
She added that something that "really needs to be looked at" is "the effects, the stress, and the welfare of the horses" while traveling as the situation should be "much better than it is." Zara admitted there were occasions when she thought, "I wish I'd done that differently," adding that she "learned a lot" while riding with Team GB.
As for the Princess Royal, who serves as president of World Horse Welfare, she gave the conference's closing address, stating that while horses historically had "become working partners," that type of human/horse relationship has largely changed. Princess Anne—who admitted she owns more ponies than she "should have"—said that horses still "have the choice" of what they want to do, asking the audience if they thought horses have "a sense of humor."
In a video shared on X, Princess Anne, wearing an equestrian-themed scarf with a brown blazer and skirt, is seen leaving the event ahead of her daughter. As for Zara, she wore a leopard-print dress with a camel coat, appearing to pop a piece of food in her mouth as she made her way to the car.
"Zara keeping it real with a muffin she snaffled from the buffet. Girl's gotta eat!" one fan commented on the video, while another added, "Zara with the biscuit to go 😂😂."
