The first horse show exclusively for rare breeds takes place later this month in Buckinghamshire.
The Rare Breeds Heritage Horse Show (22-23 September) is being supported by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and 10 out of the 12 equine breeds on the Trust’s “watchlist” are expected to be there.
The event, to be held at Bury Farm Equestrian Village, will include in-hand and ridden showing classes, jumping, driving, displays and demos. The hackney horse and pony of the year championships will also take place at the show.
The hackney recently joined the Cleveland Bay, Eriskay and Suffolk as rare breeds, with fewer than 300 breeding mares worldwide. This classifies them as “critical”.

“This is an innovation and we’re trying to get people to realise the worth of rare breeds,” said Richard James who is organising the show.
“The response has been extremely enthusiastic, more than I expected. We aim to build on it and have more championships next year.”
And entry is free.
“We want to get bums on seats and give them a really good day out,” added Mr James.
The rare breeds represented will be the Cleveland Bay, Eriskay pony, hackney, Dales, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Welsh section A semi-feral, Fell, Highland and shire.
A spokesman for the Exmoor Pony Society added: “Anything that showcases our rare breeds is a wonderful thing. It will be brilliant for visitors to see Exmoors and learn more about them, and hopefully it will become an annual event.”
For more information visit: www.buryfarmestates.co.uk.
This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (13 September 2012)
