NO doubt some very passionate breeders will disagree, but I’m delighted that, apart from Connemaras, there are no pony breeding and youngstock classes at Balmoral Show – in my opinion there are more than enough overlapping sections as is!

North Down Marquees continued their sponsorship of the Connemara division which got under way on Thursday morning in the P & O Ferries Arena where the first of two in-hand classes, for mares aged four-year-old and upwards, was judged by Marie Claire Nimmo and Barbara McGrath.