THE 157th Balmoral Show opens on Wednesday, when the action in the Spar Main Arena commences at 8am with the first of three national horse show jumping championships that day.
There are two CSI2* classes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, commencing with the TopSpec speed competition on the opening afternoon and concluding with the €30,000 Cab Group and Dunlop Homes Grand Prix on Friday.
Saturday’s show jumping programme features the national amateur championship, the Bluegrass Horse Feed schools’ open team championship and the Under 10s’ 128cm championship.
Other classes/competitions sure to attract spectators to the Spar Main Arena are Wednesday evening’s racehorse to riding horse class, Thursday morning’s performance Irish Draught classes and that afternoon’s supreme hunter championship, Friday morning’s Balmoral Star of the Future performance horse championship and that evening’s Pony Club games.
The showing programme in Horse Ring 1 starts with the flat ridden classes on Wednesday and these continue on Thursday morning before giving way that afternoon to a Clifden high performance qualifier and Connemara working hunter classes. Horse working hunter classes dominate Horse Ring 1 on Friday, with ponies holding sway throughout Saturday.
For breeders, their interest will lie in the broodmare and youngstock classes on Wednesday in the P&O Ferries Arena, where a variety of classes for horses and ponies will be staged over the following three days. There are dressage displays in the P&O Ferries Arena on Wednesday and Friday, the Clydesdale classes take place in the same arena on Friday, as will the hackney/private driving classes and the popular donkey classes.
As ever, we will remind those going to the show on Saturday to make sure to watch the cattle parade, which is due to start in the Spar Main Arena at 3.45pm.
The show officially opens at 9.30am each day, when all trade stands and catering vendors will be open. However, any member of the public who has purchased a ticket online before arriving on site can enter the showgrounds from 8am via Public Entrance 1 to watch the early classes.