THE schedule for this year’s Balmoral Show will be officially launched on Wednesday next, February 15th, when entries open for the May event which this year has been extended to four days.

Last week, a letter was sent to exhibitors which highlighted some of the changes to the horse and pony sections. New or revived classes include those for ridden Irish Draughts, Mountain & Moorland breeds, racehorse to riding horses plus small and intermediate working hunters.

While much of the show jumping programme remains the same, apart from day changes, there will be an Under 10s championship while the inclusion of an inter-schools’ championship, sponsored by Bluegrass Horse Feeds, was well-flagged in advance with qualifiers taking place as far back as October 1st.

The schedule will be reported on in detail in next Saturday’s edition of this newspaper.