ONE hundred years have now passed since the first lady riders competed on horseback at the world renowned Dublin Horse Show and that milestone will be celebrated in style when the gates open at Ballsbridge next Wednesday for the 146th Dublin Horse Show.

In the very first Ladies’ Day, women competed on horseback at Ballsbridge for the first time in 1919 with the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) bringing women into the wider workforce for the first time, and that, coupled with the passing of the Sex Disqualification Removal Act, saw the Royal Dublin Society open the Show up to lady riders.