Horse carriage driving at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2011 / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by tailsandfur

It is Queen Elizabeth´s Diamond anniversary in 2012, and the Royal Windsor Horse Show is planned to be the biggest in its 65 year history. Over 3000 horses and ponies taking part in over 170 classes have registered for this year´s event and visitors will be treated to a feast of spectacular performances including show jumping, tent pegging, and pony club mounted games. The Royal Windsor Horse Show is the only annual event that allows guests access to the private grounds of one of the Queen´s spectacular residencies and visitors also get the opportunity to see her majesty´s horses on show as well.

A brief history of the Royal Windsor Horse Show

The first Royal Windsor Horse Show was hosted during the height of World War II in 1943 as part of a national campaign to raise funds for RAF aircraft. The event was called “Wings for Victory,” and raised a staggering £400,000 which went towards the manufacturing of 78 Typhoon aircraft. The original show was organized by count Robert Orssich and Geoffrey Cross and was named the Windsor Horse and Dog Show. Queen Elizabeth, who was a young princess and keen horse rider at the time performed in that first event together with her mother and father and sister Margaret. Princess Elizabeth won the Single Private Driving on her pony Hans and Princess Margaret won the Wartime Utility Driving Class on the King’s Fell pony Gipsy.

A horse in action at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2010 / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by waldopepper

The celebration of the Queen´s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 promises to be an extra special occasion as for the first time in history visitors will be treated to guest performers that have been invited from all over the world. Britain´s sister countries, Canada and Australia will be represented by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the New South Wales Police Force Activity Ride respectively together with the Carosello de Carabiniere from Italy, Russia´s elegant team from the Kremlin Equestrian School and India´s spectacular Marwarhi Dancing Horses.

Events at The Royal Windsor Horse Show

The five day event takes places each year in either May or June and has grown in stature and size since the first show and today attracts around 8000 visitors. This year the five-day extravaganza opens on Wednesday 9th May with Hunter Showing Classes and the Horse and Hound Foxhunter jumping competition. Given the unpredictable and uncompromising weather the British Isles is famed for, an all weather artificial arena is laid in the main performance area together with special pathways for the safety of visitors.

And it´s not just a spectacular show of equestrian performances that the Royal Windsor Horse Show offers visitors, but is also home to more than 200 shops offering riding equipment and other equestrian goodies, fashion boutiques, household ornaments, jewellery and handicrafts. The event also boasts an excellent selection of restaurants menus and ample bars and cafes.

Further dates and details are available at the official Royal Windsor Horse Show website.

The Royal Windsor Horse Show is a fantastic event that any equine enthusiast must try to get to, book taxis online to reduce stress when travelling to the event.

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Millions around the world watched on TV on April 29 when Kate Middleton made her way from The Goring (one of the most luxurious London Hotels) to the Abbey to marry Prince William. That historic day will have increased interest in visiting the building. Westminster Abbey has in fact been used for coronations and other royal occasions for centuries, so William and Kate were continuing a rich tradition.

Westminster Abbey was founded some time before AD624, and housed a community of Benedictine monks for its first few years. The present church was built in 1245 by Henry III, who was later buried there. The Abbey stood to be destroyed during the reign of Henry VII, for that fate befell most abbeys in his time. But he decided to grant it cathedral status, and spare it from being pulled down. Again in the 17th century it came under threat when it suffered damage at the hands of Puritans, but it survived mostly intact. Around 100 years later, the Abbey’s two western towers were built to a Gothic Revival design. It’s the history surrounding that makes it so unique and special, something even the finest of Dubai Hotels can re-create.

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It is an important religious building, also known as The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which saw parts of the King James Bible and the New Testament translated, as well as, more recently, the New English Bible.

Westminster Abbey has been used for the weddings of most of the royal family in recent times, the exception being Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, married the Duke of Edinburgh at the Abbey in 1947. And it was only appropriate that Prince William, now the Duke of Cambridge, chose the Abbey to host his wedding this year.

Westminster Abbey has also been known as one of the sights of London for its use as the burial place of most of the Kings and Queens of England. Besides royalty, many of England’s finest poets are buried here, including William Blake, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, John Milton and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The Princess of Wales’ funeral was held there on September 6, 1997, watched by a huge TV audience around the world.

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