If you love horses, but topes, the traditional Costa Rican horse parades, aren’t your thing, you might enjoy the Spanish purebred horse fair starting Thursday, March 2 and lasting through the weekend.

The event is free and open to the public, and will run daily from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m (see program here). It will feature equestrian exhibitions, special theme nights, children’s entertainment and a closing party, and should delight lovers of all equestrian disciplines, said the Costa Rican Association of Spanish Purebred Horse Breeders (Ascopre), the event organizers.

At least 160 Spanish purebred horses will be exhibited starting Thursday in an internationally juried show in Barva de Heredia, on the outskirts of San José, Costa Rica, said a report in the regional agribusiness magazine, Productor Agropecuario.

The eighth edition of the Central American Spanish Purebred Horse Fair (FERPRE, its initials in Spanish) will be held from March 2 – 5 at the Ganadería América grounds (America Livestock), in the mountain town of Barva.

“This Fair seeks to promote riding and breeding of Spanish purebred horses (PRE, their Spanish acronym) in the Central American isthmus. People will be able to see a great variety of breeders and farmers enjoying exhibiting their animals in a multicultural environment with delegations from different countries and an equestrian show,” said Andrea Somarriba, executive director of Ascopre.

Costa Rica is home to the continent’s third largest number of Spanish purebred horses, with more than 2,500 registered, and was the first country outside Spain to register PRE horses in the Horse Breeding Registry of Spain, according to figures from the International Spanish Purebred Association (Sicab).

United States, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Spain will have official delegations at the event, said Ascopre.

Riders will compete in different categories as they exhibit these beautiful animals  coming from throughout the region for the event that will include morphological (physical) judging by Spaniards Juan Carnero and Manuel Serna, said Ascopre.

And not to be missed are the dressage competitions, which are an Olympic sport as well, and involve developing a horse’s natural athletic ability and willingness to perform a prescribed series of movements ridden within a standard arena.

U.S. Judge Bill Woods will be evaluate riders and horses in the fair’s youth and adult dressage competitions.