Blair Castle International Horse Trials

Every August, the grounds of Scotland’s Blair Castle fill up with excited crowds. The crowds flock for the annual Blair Castle International Horse Trials and Country Fair.

The event is Scotland’s premier equestrian event. As a result, it sees an incredible 40,000 people head to Perthshire for the festivities.

Blair Castle International Horse Trials 2019 will see a combination of various equestrian displays. Everything from dressage to show jumping taking place across the weekend. Alongside these equestrian events are various other attractions. All of which are sure to entertain even those who aren’t fond of horses!

The country fair features a range of stalls and a large shopping village, making for an excellent weekend in the Scottish countryside.

What’s On At Blair Castle International Horse Trials

The event at Blair Castle will take place over four days from the 22nd to 25th August 2019. During which the various trials and events will test the stamina and all-around ability of the horses and their riders. The highly anticipated and disciplined dressage section of the competition will take place over two days, usually Thursday and Friday. Followed by cross country on the Saturday and show jumping on the Sunday.

Dressage

During this two-day element of the horse trials, the competitors must ride the dressage test for their difficulty level. It is imperative that riders memorise the test for their class, and the routines can last for 7 to 8 minutes each.

Cross country

The second event of the horse trials is the cross country element. Blair Castle is a C*** level course, which is 6km long with 29 fences, some of which the riders will jump twice. There will be 40 jumps in total to complete, and this challenging course is designed to test the stamina, speed, jumping ability, boldness, agility and scope of the horse.

Showjumping

The final element of the Blair Castle International Horse Trials is show jumping which takes place on the Sunday. Show jumping is completed in reverse order of merit, so the horse and rider that came first in cross country will jump last, creating a real nail-biting conclusion to the trials.

Throughout the four-day event, various trade stands will be offering food, drinks and shopping from local businesses. Visitors will have the opportunity to both sample and purchase the range of items on offer.