ULSTER’S EQUESTRIAN SHOWCASE CELEBRATING 150 YEARS

EACH year Balmoral signals the start of the new showing season in equine circles and four days of action at the 150th renewal gets underway at Balmoral Park tomorrow.

Last year, the show was extended to four days to facilitate the growing number of exhibitors.

Tomorrow’s programme features all the youngstock classes, with the young horse championship taking place in the afternoon.

All divisions of the ridden hunters will also be judged tomorrow and this championship will follow in the main arena.

Thursday’s showing programme includes side-saddle, Connemara ponies and ridden Irish Draughts, while Friday is reserved for the cobs, working hunters and racehorse to riding horse competitions.

Classes for ridden and working hunter ponies for children take place on Saturday.

International showjumping is also a major feature and this year’s programme, which runs from Wednesday to Friday, boasts a prize- fund of €43,000. The new Horse Sport Ireland Jumping Challenge kicks off at Balmoral in The Bottle Green and Horse Sport Ireland International Grand Prix, scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The other events in the series are Mullingar in June, Millstreet in August and Cavan Indoor in November.

To be eligible for the €10,000 winning bonus, riders need to have gained as many points as possible over three of the four events.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the show, a photographic display showcasing the show’s history will be set up over the four days.

This will include information on the foundations, when the North East Agricultural Association of Ireland was formed.

The first shows were held at Belfast Corporation Markets from 1855 to 1895.

The Balmoral showgrounds were purchased in 1894 and the first show was held there in 1896. The show relocated to Balmoral Park, Lisburn in 2013.