THE Northern Ireland Shows Association (NISA) championships kick off this weekend at Ballymena and go on through the summer with the A.N. Irwin & Sons Clydesdale championship running on a league basis to the end of the show season.

There are 10 classes, plus a championship, scheduled for the Clydesdale section at Ballymena (plus a wide variety of classes for horses and ponies) while the heavy horse will also be well catered for next Saturday, the second day of the North Antrim Agricultural Association show at Ballymoney.