The annual Equine Affaire is Thursday, Nov. 8 through Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

This regional exposition and trade show is open to the public and offers more than 230 clinics, seminars, and demonstrations on a wide variety of equestrian sports and horse training, management, health, and business topics.

There are 9.2 million horses in the U.S. with some 4.6 million people involved in the industry as horse owners, service providers and employees. The equine industry has a $102 billion impact on the U.S. economy.

Horse and farm exhibits plus breed representatives and training stables offer opportunities for one-on-one questions and gathering personal research if your are considering a horse lease, lessons or purchase in the future.

More than 230 clinics, seminars, and demonstrations on a wide variety of equestrian sports and horse training, management, health, and business topics. Presenters will include Olympians; world and national champion riders; Pan Am Games, WEG, and NFR competitors; popular equestrian TV personalities; authors; course designers; judges; veterinarians; professors, and other top industry professionals from throughout the U.S. and other countries.

The nation’s leading equine-related retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and organizations will fill five exhibit halls. Informative exhibits and equine products range from tack, riding apparel, artwork, gifts, and grooming supplies to fencing, stalls, barns, farm equipment, and horse trailers.

The trade show floor plan inside the Mallary Complex has been reconfigured to expand the offerings to attendees with more than 120 new exhibit booths.

The popular “Breed Pavilion” and horse and farm exhibits area is the place to meet representatives of national and regional breed associations and color registries who can answer questions about more than 40 breeds of horses from North America, Europe, and beyond. Miniatures to drafts, stock horses to sport horses will be on exhibit and presented in hand for “up close and personal” evaluation.

The event is also an official testing center for the American Riding Instructor Association, held in the Young Building at the event on Saturday, Nov. 12. Participants in the test must register in advance.

Admission is $15, children (7 to 10), $8, and includes all clinics, seminars, and demonstrations and free souvenir program (while supplies last). A four-day ticket is $50. Entrance to the “Fantasia” program, additional fee.

Eugenia Snyder is president and founder of the Ohio-based company which produces three events across the U.S. The first was launched in 1994; the second at the Eastern States Exposition in 1998, and a third was initiated at Fairplex in Pomona, California, in 2001.