Visitors to this year’s Royal Cheshire County Show are set to be impressed by a captivating new World Breed Horses Parade Spectacular inside the main ring.
This eye-catching display, part of the Light Horse Section, will bring together horses from Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK in national costume for a unique, 30-minute event that’s not to be missed.
Mr Mike Daley, Chief Light Horse Steward at the Show since 1980, said: “When they’re in the ring, the audience is going to be amazed.
“The majority of these horses have been imported by their owners but some are British-bred. “It really will be a sight to see – we are sure visitors will impressed.”
Breeds will include Espanola, Appaloosa, American Saddle Breed, Lusitano, Lipizzaner, Haflinger, Morgan, Friesian Fjord and Icelandic horses, he said.
Sue Durkan of Cheshire from the Lusitano Breed Society said World Breed Horses had a fascinating history. “The Lusitano for example is one of the oldest breeds and can be traced right back to 1,700 BC through cave paintings in Portugal,” she said.
“The breed originated in the rough, hilly areas of Portugal which produced an agile, hardy, brave and very intelligent horse who, along with his Spanish cousins, travelled the globe as a war horse and contributed to the bloodlines of many other breeds throughout Europe and the Americas.
“The Lusitano remains at the heart of Portuguese culture – it is very much a working horse used in the fields to herd bulls and cows.”
The World Breed Horses Parade Spectacular is scheduled on the first day of the Show (Tuesday, June 21) inside the Creamline Dairies Main Ring at approximately 4.55pm.
The Light Horse Section of the Royal Cheshire County Show is also one of the major shows for Horse of the Year Qualifiers.
Across 10 rings over two days, more than 2,800 horses and ponies will compete, up from 2,700 entries in 2015. Mr Daley said the section had also received record entries for Welsh classes: “The Welsh breeds at Cheshire are
recognised as second only the Royal Welsh Show, held in July.” View the full judge’s list at www.royalcheshireshow.org/judges/light-horse-2/ and schedule at www.royalcheshireshow.org/competition-entry/light-horse-schedule/.
The next Royal Cheshire County Show is on June 21-22 at the spectacular 300-acre Tabley Showground near Knutsford. Tickets are now available for purchase online.
About The Royal Cheshire County Show
The Royal Cheshire County Show is the premier summertime agricultural event in the North West of England whose history spans more than 175 years.
The two-day event attracts in excess of 80,000 visitors, traders and competitors from across Britain whose participation is key to the atmosphere and spirit of the prestigious Royal County Show.
With its roots firmly embedded in farming, the Royal Cheshire County Show prides itself on its many competition classes for cattle, sheep, pigs and dairy goats plus hundreds of classes for light and heavy horses, show jumping, rare breeds of livestock, poultry, pygmy goats, pigeons, cavies, rabbits and its dog show.
The Royal Cheshire County Show is known by generations of schoolchildren who, through their involvement at the Show, have received valuable life skills in farming, food production and environmental conservation.
