Queen takes a musical ride through Jubilee pageant

Royal Canadian Mounted Police perform for Queen Elizabeth at the Diamond Jubille  Pageant at Windsor Castle on Sunday. (Reuters)

Queen Elizabeth likes nothing better than some horsing around, and she got plenty of it in her first large-scale Diamond Jubilee celebration.

Hundreds of horses from around the world, including the RCMP's famed Musical Ride troupe, and 1,200 performers converged at Windsor Castle on Sunday for the jubilee pageant.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip watched the final performance of the pageant, which included rags-to-riches singer Susan Boyle and Australian musician Rolf Harris.

Seventeen countries were represented as 550 horses put on a show that included Italy's Carousel of the Carabinieri re-enacting an 1848 battle and Russia's Kremlin Riding School doing horseback acrobatics.

The Queen's own Household Cavalry recreated her coronation in the grand finale.

Troupes from India's Dancing Marwaris to the Chilean Huasos displayed their mettle in a rare gathering of global horsemanship to mark the monarch's 60 years on the throne.

All this is a warm-up to the June 2-5 celebrations that will include a giant flotilla of a thousand boats on the River Thames. That event alone is expected to cost about $19 million.

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant in Windsor on Sunday for the final performance. (AFP/Getty Images)

Maori dancers perform for Queen Elizabeth at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. (Reuters)

Cook Island dancers perform at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant at Windsor Castle. (Reuters)