EXHIBITING AT THE SHOW
If you have exhibited at the Show in the last two years, the Competition Schedule will automatically be posted to you. The Competition Schedule is also available to download from this site, or by emailing equestrian@rds.ie.
There are two types of equestrian competition at the Show: showing classes and showjumping.
Showing Classes
The showing classes are segmented into type of horse/pony, by weight category or age category, ridden or led, sex, age etc. You don’t have to qualify at any other Show to enter the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show (except if you’re entering the Breeders' Championship, the Three Year Old Loose Performance, Potential Event Horse, the Junior Equitation classes or the Connemara Performance Hunter. You may also need to have a significant number of points under a National Parent Society scheme).
National Jumping Classes
These competitions are only open to horses/ponies which have qualified at shows run by the Show Jumping Ireland (SJI) ( http://www.sji.ie/).
Irish-bred classes
The 2005 Show demonstrated a significant increase in the number of horses bred outside of Ireland competing at Dublin. The rationale behind the Show and its classes is to promote Irish breeding and the Irish horse and it is for this reason, in support of the Irish bred horse, that we have introduced a restriction to a number of classes. These classes are restricted to horses foaled in Ireland with appropriate documents to support that fact. Horses entered in a class with the Irish-bred restriction must also be micro-chipped under this rule. The Irish bred classes provide the ideal opportunity to showcase the best of Irish horses. Otherwise the Dublin Horse Show remains a truly open international show.
Class with Irish-bred restriction:
Show Hunters (Classes 1-11)
Ladies’ Hunter (Side Saddle) (Classes 13 & 14)
The Working Hunter Championship (Classes 15-17)
Three Year Old Potential Event Horse (Class 61)
Three Year Old Loose Performance (Class 62)
Four & Five Year Old RDS Young Event Horse (Classes 63 & 64)
Four Year Old Show Jumping
Five Year Old Show Jumping
Six Year Old Show Jumping
Combined Training (Classes 84 & 85)
Other performance classes
Young event horse classes for four and five year olds were added to the programme in 2006 and proved a great success. The classes are designed to promote potential high class event type horses and create a platform for breeders and producers to display their quality young stock. They emphasize the significance of the event horse in the Irish Sport Horse Industry and create another performance outlet for many of the young horses currently being shown in hand. There has been a marked decline in the use of the traditional breeds comprising the Irish Sport Horse over the last number of years and these classes will demonstrate the beneficial contribution of the traditional breeding in the production of quality, athletic young stock.
The RDS Sportsman classes (classes 18 & 19) were introduced in 2007. These classes are aimed at amateur or non-professional producers and have been designed to showcase and highlight the importance of the leisure horse to the Irish breeding industry. Show Hunters in Classes 1-11 are not eligible to enter this class.
Connemara Performance Hunter - Details can be found on the website
Irish Pony Club Combined Training - Details can be found on the website
Potential Event Horse -Details can be found on the website
Racehorse to Riding Horse - Details can be found on the website
