The Woodland Horse and Pony Show is scheduled for April 27 at the Billy Jenkins Ring near Woodland, N.C.

The show is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m. and once again, hundreds of horses will be on hand to grace the crowds with their beauty and talents.

Billy Jenkins, co-chair of the event, said 2003 marks the 40th time the show has been held over the past 41 years.

The show began in 1962 and ran continuously until the early 1990s, missing only one year.

&uot;We’ve only been rained out one time,&uot; Jenkins said, looking for something wooden to knock his knuckles against. &uot;It was our 25th Anniversary and it rained the entire weekend. But we made it up the following weekend so we’ve only missed one year and that was due to a long period of considering if we wanted to continue with the excess work it takes to make this a success.&uot;

The show is sponsored by the Woodland Men’s Club and Ladies Auxiliary and has been the club’s single most successful fundraiser from the beginning.

Longtime member of the Woodland Men’s Club and the person most responsible for the grounds and &uot;behind the scenes&uot; work for the Horse Show, Joe Brown, said, &uot;There have been many Little League(r) Baseball teams sponsored over the years as well as hundreds of other youth-oriented and community-oriented sponsorships that have been possible because of this Horse Show.&uot;

The Woodland Horse and Pony Show will feature 38 classes this year, two more than last year.

Jenkins said the increase of two more classes comes from popular demand to bring back, after several years of absence, Barrel Racing and Pole Bending.

Both of these classes had been dropped for many years due to the lack of horses to compete.

Jenkins said the growing increase in horse populations throughout the area was bringing back different breeds of horses and a wider variety of horse training.

Another new class this year is the Paso Fino Pleasure Open. This class will feature both English and Western Tack, being shown at a walk both ways of the ring.

The Woodland Horse and Pony Show is known historically for bringing horses from as far away and the Virginia-Maryland Border, Raleigh and Pine Hurst. Not to mention, as Jenkins pointed out, the ever growing number of local horse owners in Northeastern North Carolina and Southside Virginia.

&uot;This has been a highly respectable show throughout the years,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;We put a lot of work into generating a first-class show and it has been compared to shows in much larger areas as one of the best.&uot;

Gate admission is $1 per person and along with the spectacular show of horses, the event will feature homemade goodies from fudge, pies and cakes to hamburgers and hotdogs. But one of the main draws that goes all the way back to 1962 is the homemade barbecue, made fresh the night before by the Men’s Club and members of the Woodland Volunteer Fire Department.

The following is a list of classes being held this year:

Stick Horse – Riders are age 6 and under. Furnish your own stick horse. Everybody wins a blue ribbon.

Lead Line Class – Riders 7 years and under. Any breed.

Plantation Walking Horse Open.

Academy Class Walk and Trot – Riders 11-14 years of age.

Western Pleasure Horse Open.

Two Year Old Walking Horse.

Ladies Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Horse. Any breed.

Academy Class Open.

Juvenile Walking Horse – No Canter.

Western Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Open.

Style Rack Horse Open – Registered Racking Horses Only.

Novice Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Horse – English Tack.

Juvenile Western Pleasure Horse – 17 years and under.

Ladies Walking Horse Specialty Class.

Speed Racking Class – Any breed.

Academy Class Walk and Trot – 10 years and under.

Three Year Old Walking Horse.

Novice Go-As-You-Please – Western Tack.

Academy Class Open.

Pole Bending Competition.

ASB Country Pleasure Class.

Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Horse Open – Western Tack Only.

Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Horse Open – English Tack Only.

English Pleasure Horse Open.

Ladies Plantation Walking Horse – No Canter.

Western Pleasure Horse Stake.

Single Roadster Pony Open.

Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Horse or Pony – 17 years and under.

Paso Fino Pleasure Open – PFHA Type Horses.

Four Year Old Walking Horse Specialty – No Canter.

Walking Horse Specialty Class Open.

English Pleasure Driving Open

Plantation Walking Horse Championship.

Go-As-You-Please Pleasure Horse Championship

ASB Pleasure Horse Open – American Saddlebreds.

Walking Horse Stake.

ASB Five-Gaited Horse – Natural of Set Tails.

Barrel Racing Competition.