December 20, 2021 9.39 am This story is over 26 months old

World’s largest Shire horse gathering coming to Lincolnshire border in 2022

Coming to Newark for the first time ever

By Local Democracy Reporter

Newark Showground will play host to the world’s largest gathering of Shire horses, when an annual meet comes to the Lincolnshire border for the first time in the event’s near 150 year history.

The National Shire Horse Show is an annual event which has run for over 140 years, and will come to Newark Showground for the first time ever on the weekend of March 12-13, 2022.

The meet is organised by The Shire Horse Society, whose Patron is her majesty The Queen, and it is the only charity dedicated to the protection, promotion and improvement of the Shire horse.

It will be a welcome return for the event, after it was forced to be cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Typically over 200 horses come to the meet, competing in a range of classes, while there are also trade stands, parades and displays for all the family to enjoy.

Believed to be one of the oldest horse shows in the world, the National Shire Horse Show has only been held at a handful of venues since it first started at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, London way back in 1878.

Over 200 horses come on the meet each year. | Photo: Carol Stevens for The Shire Horse Society

To give the meet extra opportunity to go ahead, it will be held away from its usual indoor venue of Staffordshire Showground, where it has been each year since 2016, to an outdoor venue in the form of Newark Showground on the Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire border.

Tickets are available online now from the Shire Horse Society website, with discounted prices of £10 for adults available, as well as £8 for children aged between 5 and 13.

Children gain free admission on Sunday, March 13 when accompanied by an adult, and a family ticket of two adults and two children will cost £32 in advance (£40 on the gate).

Victoria Clayton, Shire Horse Society Secretary and Show Director, said: “2020 and 2021 have been difficult years. Looking to 2022, Newark Showground gives a wonderful outdoor platform that can accommodate all the elements of the National Shire Horse Show. It provides hard roads and tracks, undercover stabling and two wonderful rings in which to enjoy our fantastic breed.

“We are looking forward to welcoming lots of local spectators and horse lovers. We hope they will offer their support as our charity tries to recover from such a devastating time.”