A cavalry soldier from Carlisle, who had never been near a horse before he joined the Army, performed at the equine pageant staged for the Queen’s 90th birthday party.

Lance Corporal Stuart Underwood, 26, led the charge of the Musical Ride as they cantered in full regalia into the arena in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

“It was a proud moment. It was amazing,” he told The Cumberland News.

The Queen and many members of the Royal family attended the pageant, where 900 horses and more than 1,500 participants from the UK and around the world performed for two hours, galloping through the key events of Her Majesty’s 90 years.

The celebration, which marked the finale of the Royal Windsor Horse Show, was also broadcast live on television and recorded by LCpl Underwood’s mum, Sheila Johns, of Harraby.

By Monday morning, she had already rewatched it three times.

“I’m just so immensely proud, “ said Mrs Johns. “To see your son on TV doing something amazing like that, it’s fantastic.”

The Musical Ride is the part of Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, which performs and parades at state ceremonies like the Trooping the Colour and this week’s State Opening of Parliament.

LCpl Underwood had to undergo trials to be accepted into the Ride and will stay for a year. The routine the Ride usually do is about 17 minutes long, but for HMQ90 – as LCpl Underwood called the Queen’s party – they only had four-and-a-half minutes in the arena.

The Musical Ride spent a month perfecting their routine set to Bonfire Heart sung by James Blunt, who was in the Household Cavalry before turning his hand to music.

LCpl Underwood led one of the two rows of eight riders. They cantered around the arena, weaving in and out of each other and circling and turning with sychronicity. The riders did all this while controlling the horse with one hand as their other held up a flag.

“All that week we did two shows a day, but even on that last performance I was nervous,” said LCpl Underwood.

“I think it’s just the feeling that anything could go wrong at any time. Horses are unpredictable.”

One of the horses did rear up during the performance, but the rider quickly recovered and LCpl Underwood said he did well to stay on. “Things like that do happen,” he said.

“The only thing you can do is put the leg on and keep them going forward.”

His own horse, Kajaki, doesn’t scare at anything which is why he is the lead horse.

“The only thing he doesn’t like is clapping, he tends to go sideways,” said LCpl Underwood.

Although he had always wanted to join the Army, it was his stepdad Alan Johns who persuaded LCpl Underwood to join the Household Cavalry in July 2007 when he was 17 years old.

Mr Johns had been in the regiment himself for 18 years and rode at Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding.

“I hadn’t even gone near a horse before I joined the Army,” said LCpl Underwood, who learned to ride in 12 weeks

“We’ve been told he’s a very, very good rider,” said Mrs Johns.

LCpl Underwood has also served with the armoured regiment of the Household Cavalry in Afghanistan twice.

“I would definitely recommend it, not only because of the enjoyment of this side of the regiment but the combat side too,” he said.