THE Belsay International Horse Trials have ran each year since 2013, with the exception of 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

The competition takes place at Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, which are open to the public and managed by English Heritage.

The Grade I listed parkland which is the venue for the trials is maintained by The Belsay Trust.

Laura and Peter de Wesselow, who live at Belsay, created the event and are the modern descendants of the illustrious Middleton family, who owned the Belsay estate for more than 800 years, trained racehorses on the grounds in the 18th and 19th centuries, and won the St. Leger at Doncaster in 1859 with a horse called Gamester.

The competition returned in June 2021 and was hailed as a ‘massive success’ by organiser Laura de Wesselow.

This year, the Belsay Trials will take place from Thursday, June 2 until Sunday, June 5.

The headline sponsor is Barbour clothing, with support from Project Pony, Womble Bond Dickinson, and Bellway.

More than 500 events will take place, including international dressage, showjumping, and cross country for novices, intermediate riders, and champions.

Dog Arena’s will hold agility competitions and non-competitive family fun shows.

There will also be Gun Dog Displays twice daily by Lammermuir Gun Dogs, a small dog training kennels based in the Scottish borders.

As well as the variety of competitive events, there will be a shopping village full of trade stands with clothing, jewellery, garden accessories, and riding equipment.

Food and drink will be available at stalls across the grounds, ranging from pizzas, wraps, and burgers, to brewed coffee and candyfloss.

‘Belsay Sunday’ will take place on the final day of the trials. This will include arena eventing and a hunt relay.

There will be an allocated area on site for camping and caravans.

Alternatively, there are bed and breakfast options, local pubs with accommodation, or holiday cottages.

Bouncy castles and children’s amusements were on site in 2019.

For more information on purchasing tickets for horse trials or for camping tickets, go to https://belsayhorsetrials.co.uk/.