Dublin Horse Show Guide

On August 8th, the 145th Dublin Horse Show gets under way at the RDS in Ballsbridge, just south of the city centre.

With almost 100,000 people expected to attend the weeklong show, and large crowds expected for Ladies Day on Thursday, as well as the traditional family days on Saturday and Sunday.

In total, around 1,600 horses and ponies will take part in the show's events, over five days. The Dublin Horse Show comprises of 134 competitions, including 14 international show jumping competitions - eight of which carry world ranking points, ensuring a top quality field in attendance.

The highlight of the week for many is the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup on Friday.

History

This year’s Dublin Horse show begins on the 8th and ends on the 12th of August. It first began in 1864 and has become a feature on the Irish equine calendar ever since. The horse show is a part of Irish history and society, this week seeing its 145th consecutive year running! Held in the RDS in Ballsbridge, people come from all across the island and the world to compete and see the horses leap, race and win.

 

Main events

Ireland have impressed in recent times in Showjumping, and The Nations Cup will be the first home outing for the Irish show jumping team, who are the current European champions. Ireland will be competing against teams from Mexico, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Italy and Switzerland.

Other feature events are the Land Rover Puissance on Saturday.

 

The championship isn’t just all about horses! There will be a wide range of live entertainment for everyone including children making the show perfect for families, especially on the two final days – Saturday and Sunday. This year there will be a brilliant range of entertainment including Monsieur Gusto the magician, Yer Man’s Puppet Show, The Irish Dance Showcase, A clown and the Dublin gospel choir. If the kids aren’t fully satisfied with the acts they can have some fun of their own at the kid’s zone, where there will be an array of inflatable slides and bouncy castles, as well as face painting and pony rides!

A highlight of the annual event is Ladies Day on the 9th. The main sponsor of the day Dundrum Town Centre who are offering an amazing prize of a €10,000 voucher to Dundrum shopping centre for the Best Dressed Lady! The guest judges are brilliant and some of which are Ireland’s most influential Women in the fashion industry!

 

How to Get there

The RDS is easily accessible from the city centre - just hop on either the Number 4 or 7 bus.

 

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