ENTRIES close on Wednesday next, March 15th for the majority of the showing classes at this year’s Balmoral Show which runs from Wednesday, May 10th to Saturday, May 13th. An enlarged showing programme, which introduces Mountain & Moorland classes and sees the return of ridden Irish Draughts and a racehorse to riding horse class, can be viewed on the show’s website, balmoralshow.co.uk, where entries can be made online. Exhibitors should note changes in the schedule, especially that which sees the cob section brought forward to Wednesday afternoon.
The first qualifier for the six national show jumping championships at Balmoral is being held today at Kernans Equestrian Centre in Crossmaglen with the remaining three rounds taking place on the following Saturdays at Cavan EC (March 18th), Portmore EC (March 25th) and The Meadows EC (April 1st).
Qualifiers are also being held for the Knott’s Bakery young event horse championships which are restricted to named Irish-bred four and five-year-olds with documented pedigrees and breeder details in their passports. Qualifiers for this section of the show will be held on the four Tuesdays of April at The Meadows (April 4th), Gransha EC (April 11th), Ravensdale Lodge EC (April 18th) and Lusk EC (April 25th).
Entries close on Saturday next, March 18th, for the two-day Pegus Gala Weekend of showing being staged by the Stuart family at their Gransha Equestrian Centre, Bangor on Saturday and Sunday, April 1st and 2nd. The full programme of flat and working hunter classes for every type of horse and pony can be viewed on www.granshaequestrian.co.uk.
Qualifiers continue to take place throughout this month and next, from Wicklow up to the Causeway Coast in Co Antrim, for the Festival working hunter championship at the Northern Ireland Festival. Other entries for the three-day show, which will be held in Cavan Equestrian Centre from Friday, April 21st to Sunday, April 23rd, close on Friday, March 31st. Full details of the huge number of classes on offer can be found on www.northernirelandfestival.co.uk.