Royal Highland Show 2018 - Unicorn Turnouts!

The end  of the RHS posts is nigh! 

(and about bloody time too, this took way longer than anticipated!😅)

Royal Highland Show 2018! Highlands and Shetlands Ahoy!

Visiting the stables is always my favourite part of the show as it's really the only time you get to physically interact with the horses, and as I don't have any other horse time these days, it's a precious resource!

Royal Highland Show 2018! - Clydesdales!

Clydesdales are often described as 'gentle giants' and it's an incredibly apt description.

Royal Highland Show 2018! Cattle

After ogling the cobs for a good long while, we headed off in the direction of the stables, stopping en route to say hello to the cows in their big shed.

Royal Highland Show 2018 - Showjumping and Sunburn!

The showjumping was due to begin in the main ring, so we loitered around the big collecting ring for a little while, taking in the competitors warming up. 

Royal Highland Show 2018! - A Parade of Ponies (and Clydesdales :P)

By this time in the day we were both getting pretty hungry, and once Magda spotted a stand selling pizzas made to order, our fate was sealed. There was a really interesting selection to choose from (I was very tempted with the black pudding and apple!) but we decided to share a venison pepperoni one as, at a whopping £9 per tiny pizza, it was already pretty pricey! It was delicious, but half as small and twice as expensive as I'd have liked!

Royal Highland Show 2018! - Riding Horses

Once we'd had our fill of tiny ponies, we meandered up to the Thistle Ring nearby, to the Riding Horse class, and what a beautiful selection to look upon!

Royal Highland Show 2018 - Working Hunter Pony!

This year there were thrills and spills a-plenty!

One of my favourites was this tiny little pony who proved that size is by no means everything, especially when it came to going fast and jumping!

 

Royal Highland Show 2018! - WHP Warmup!

One of my favourite classes at the RHS is the Working Hunter Pony - nothing beats tiny ponies zooming around and flying over rustic fences! I always like the collecting ring for photography as its a smaller space than the actual jumping arena so you've a much better chance of capturing the action than when the ponies are miles away on the other side!

Royal Highland Show 2018! - M&M Championship

We never have any specific plans for anything, and as some classes linger on for far longer than the schedule would suggest, it's sometimes anyone's guess as to what's on when! At one point we stopped outside the main ring to watch the M&M championship, but we couldn't get very close for photos so moved on after a while.

As previously stated, I'm a sucker for a nice bay and what a nice one this is!

Royal Highland Show 2018! - M&M and Part-Bred Arabs

I'm a little late to the party this year, due in part to the fact that I came home from the show with 2644 images to sort out and a super nasty sunburn on my face which is still visible over a week later! Flickr was also an issue as it took the best part of a full week to upload everything.😖

As ever, all photos sans commentary can be found -here- and feel free to use any for colour/drawing reference. 

The RHS' official facebook page had -this- wee video which gives you a feel for what the whole show was like.