Northern Ireland International Horse Show President Joe Sloan announced the 'One Star Invitational' at the recent International Show in Cannes and the response from top riders competing in the 'Invitation' has been astounding. According to Mr Sloan, international competitors have already started signing up to the event: "We have a number of international competitors registered to compete at the inaugural 'One Star Invitational' at the Northern Ireland International Horse Show. Whilst it is too early to name the riders – we have received entries from some of the top invitational riders in England, Turkey and Belgium."
The 'One Star Invitational' will be restricted to just 30 horses so demand for places are set to be high. The heights of the competition will be a maximum of 1.25m Thursday to Saturday and 1.30m in the Championship on Sunday, each rider will be allowed a maximum of two horses when competing for the £10,000 purse. The 'One Star Invitational' competitions will run throughout the show with trophies and prize money awarded daily.
The entertainment will be immense and tickets for this year's Belfast Show are expected to be in great demand. The inaugural 'One Star Invitational' is in keeping with the Northern Ireland International Horse Show's objectives of offering opportunities for the best riders at all levels to compete.
Mr Sloan added: "The standard of competition on show in Belfast has been phenomenal for the past two years. The addition of the 'One Star Invitational' will ensure the calibre of talent at this year's Show will surpass that of previous years. This October's Show promises to be the Show of a lifetime."
The 2008 Northern Ireland International Horse Show will be taking place between 23rd October and 26th October at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
For more information visit www.nihorseshow.com or for tickets see www.odysseyarena.com.