Bolesworth brings the best to Cheshire
The Equerry Bolesworth International is one of the UK's premier equestrian occasions.
It is held annually in June in the glorious Cheshire countryside with the Barbour family's historic castle as the backdrop.
The five day event features a mix of stunning showjumping including the Bolesworth International Grand Prix, a thrilling puissance high jump competition and top class dressage.
The amphitheatre style main arena, is one of the most attractive anywhere and there are two other showjumping arenas.
Bolesworth International is an event the whole family will enjoy as well as the equestrian enthusiast.
There is a village atmosphere, with excellent food and drink stands catering for every taste and budget, including a Champagne bar, hog roasts and a vintage tea room.
Showjumping galore and much, much more
Top class dressage, show jumping, freestyle motocross, a dog show, fashion show, fine foods, shopping, traditional funfair rides, dance music at Club Boles and, of course, sunshine all made Bolesworth 2018 a great success.
And visitors can be assured of the same when it is next held between 12 and 16 June 2019.
Held in the Cheshire countryside, the five day event had something for the whole family to enjoy as well as the keen horse lover.
International dressage
This year, international dressage formed a major part of the programme attracting the world's top dressage riders Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Michael Eilberg.
Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin was on top form, winning each of her classes with a string of talented horses including Mount St. John Freestyle, informally known as Mrs. Valegro, after the supremely talented Valegro, the horse Charlotte rode to Olympic glory.
As well as competing and winning his class on Hawtins Delicato, mutli-gold medallist Carl Hester ran a superb dressage demonstration and masterclass.
For this he used the Van Olst team of stallions ridden by young British international dressage rider, Charlotte Fry.
Anne and Gertjan Van Olst's legendary stallion, Negro was the sire of the world's top dressage horse, Valegro, and you could certainly see where his ability came from.
The pony freestyle dressage to music was also a treat to watch.
The young riders were so accurate and focused on their job and all put in an excellent performance with Megan Barratt on Valido's Starlight taking the top prize.
On the show jumping front, it was excitement all the way with Ireland's Paul Kennedy on Cartown Danger Mouse winning the Equerry Horsefeeds 4* 1.60 Grand Prix in fine style.
Up and over the wall
A favourite of mine is the Puissance (meaning 'power' in French), and as always this class had everyone on the edge of their seats.
The Puissance is all about jumping extremely high and really tests the bravery of horse and rider. In the final stages of the competition, each round consists of just two fences, one of which is the enormous Wall.
This is built out of hollow, red wooden bricks making it safer for the horse and rider to jump, as the bricks easily fall if knocked.
As each competitor approached the Wall, the audience held its breath.
Huge sighs of relief and thunderous applause were the welcome sounds for those riders that cleared it.
The Wall reached the huge height of 7'3", a record for Bolesworth, and was jumped cleanly by the winning combination of Ireland's Shane Breen and his courageous horse, Acorad 3
The Grand Prix
The Grand Prix show jumping classes were thrilling, but there were more light-hearted events too, such as the Mini Major, with adult and junior riders in fancy dress jumping against the clock.
This is always great fun providing many a laugh, although the riding from young and old is extremely skilful.
The show jumping was compared by seasoned professional, Geoff Billington, who did a really entertaining job with an insiders knowledge.
The Cazenove Capital Eventing Grand Prix
New for 2018 was the Cazenove Capital Eventing Grand Prix.
This fast and furious competition featured event riders and showjumpers pairing up against the clock and racing over 30 jumps and cross-country style fences.
This class was both breathtaking and exciting as riders and horses demonstrated their enormous skill at tackling difficult obstacles at speed.
The winning team were Great Britain's Beth Vernon on Annbalou and Australia's Andrew Hoy on Cheeky Calimbo.
Bentley Ride & Drive
Another new class to set the arena alight this year was the Bentley Ride & Drive.
Riders first tackled a challenging showjumping course with a time-trial twist before leaping out of the saddle and into a Bentley Bentayga V8 to weave their way through an obstacle course.
Showjumping and rally driving, what's not to like?
Arenacross FMX
Other entertainment included the turbo-charged Arenacross FMX crew - high- flying action with motorbike riders performing jaw-dropping stunts including somersaults, flips and whips.
Terrifying yet addictive!
To keep the younger ones busy there was a vintage funfair along with giant inflatables, pony rides, trampolining, a mountain bike show, dog agility, exotic animals, a Zorb ball pool and even a traditional Punch and Judy show.
Club Boles
Club Boles provided evening entertainment into the early hours and crowd rousing Rick Parfitt Jr and the RPJ Band rocked the stage on the Saturday evening.
The Shopping Village
The Shopping Village had a wide range of equine goods, designer outlets and, for eats and drinks, there was a good choice of restaurants and bars around the show ground.
The Fine Food & Lifestyle Marquee had unusual and artisanal pies, gin, skincare products, artwork and glittering gold flake infused sparkling wine.
It goes without saying that the prosecco and gin bars around the grounds were well frequented!
The 2019 Bolesworth International
The 2019 Bolesworth International will be held from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 June 2019.
Liverpool International Horse Show
The Liverpool International Horse Show will return to the Echo Arena on the city's waterfront from Saturday 28 to Tuesday 31 December 2018.
The 2017 event was cancelled after day one following a fire in a nearby multi-storey car park.
Fortunately, all the horses were quickly taken to safety and no one was injured.
Show promoter, Nina Barbour and her Bolesworth team are planning a huge celebratory, world class equine event in December.