Century-old horse show opens in Dublin

A century-old horse show kicked off in the Irish capital Dublin on Wednesday, attracting thousands of horse lovers from home and abroad, reported Xinhua.

Named Dublin Horse Show, the five-day event, first held in 1864, is expected to attract over 120,000 visitors this year, said the organizers.

More than 160 competitions for horses and riders in different age brackets will take place during the show, which is held at Royal Dublin Society building complex for large-scale events.

Important competitions include Jumping Nations Cup with a prize of 250,000 euros (274,353 U.S. dollars) and International Grand Prix with a prize of 350,000 euros.

Hundreds of trade stalls selling various types of horse-related products such as saddles and special vehicles for transporting horses are set up indoors and outdoors at the venue.

A Best Dressed competition or traditionally known as Ladies' Day will also be held during the event.

The mission of the Dublin Horse Show is to support the Irish horse breeders and producers through showcasing the best Irish-bred horses at top international competitions, said the organizers.

The Irish horse sport industry is worth 1 billion euros a year, said Horse Sport Ireland, the governing body for the Irish sport horse industry. It added that the industry supports an estimated 15,000 jobs across the country.

There are close to 140,000 sport horses in Ireland, said local media RTE, quoting a recently-released report on the country's sport horse sector.

Last year Ireland's horse export sales were valued at 185 million euros, said the report.