Chatsworth Country Fair, Yorkshire, UK
Visited: August 2011
In summer 2011 I attended Chatsworth County Show, which is set in the heart of the Peak District in Derbyshire at a historic 16th-century house with expansive 1,000 acre grounds. The event is organised by the 'Red Socks', volunteers from a Charitable Trust, who are easy to identify due to their wearing of knee high blue socks, only joking, of course they are bright red! The highlights were a number of fast-paced equestrian events.
The first event was the superb Musical Drive of the King's Troop, performed by the Royal Horse Artillery. This is one of the most spectacular displays of horsemanship I've seen, it featured four guns at 54 feet long with six horses per team and 1.5 tonnes of World War One artillery. The horses were all absolutely stunning and impeccably turned out. They thundered round the grassy arena, performing acrobatics with breathtaking precision.
Next came the Mounted Games, four teams from across Great Britain competed in a series of blink-and-you'll-miss-it contests of speed and agility. Of course, the cheers from the crowd were particularly deafening whenever the Yorkshire team were in the running to win an event.
Finally, it was the turn of the British Scurry and Trials Driving competition where around 10 teams of two ponies running furiously at full gallop negotiate obstacles in the fastest time possible. All the ponies were in exceptional condition and clearly enjoying themselves whilst they hurtled around the course. A lap of victory for the winners and honour for the runners-up followed, with raucous applause for the slowest but most aww-inducing team of two mini-Shetlands.
Ok, so this is not a riding experience but one that I wanted to share as it was such a memorable day, with other competitions going on throughout the fair including gun dogs, birds of prey, Scottish dancing, stonewall building, shooting and livestock showing. An absolutely exceptional event, try to catch it if you can!
The first event was the superb Musical Drive of the King's Troop, performed by the Royal Horse Artillery. This is one of the most spectacular displays of horsemanship I've seen, it featured four guns at 54 feet long with six horses per team and 1.5 tonnes of World War One artillery. The horses were all absolutely stunning and impeccably turned out. They thundered round the grassy arena, performing acrobatics with breathtaking precision.
Next came the Mounted Games, four teams from across Great Britain competed in a series of blink-and-you'll-miss-it contests of speed and agility. Of course, the cheers from the crowd were particularly deafening whenever the Yorkshire team were in the running to win an event.
Finally, it was the turn of the British Scurry and Trials Driving competition where around 10 teams of two ponies running furiously at full gallop negotiate obstacles in the fastest time possible. All the ponies were in exceptional condition and clearly enjoying themselves whilst they hurtled around the course. A lap of victory for the winners and honour for the runners-up followed, with raucous applause for the slowest but most aww-inducing team of two mini-Shetlands.
Ok, so this is not a riding experience but one that I wanted to share as it was such a memorable day, with other competitions going on throughout the fair including gun dogs, birds of prey, Scottish dancing, stonewall building, shooting and livestock showing. An absolutely exceptional event, try to catch it if you can!
|