A WILD WEST shootout featuring The Devil's Horsemen is sure to create a stampede to this year's Romsey Show.

The gunslinging show, the main attraction at Broadlands Park on Saturday, September 13th, is modelled on one staged by Buffalo Bill in 1896.

Visitors will be thrilled by daring displays of practical horsemanship, shooting skill and cold courage during the re-enactment of a murderous attack on the Deadwood Stage and its passengers by brutal gunslingers.

Romsey Show promises a host of other attractions.

The main ring events will include field gun displays by three teams from the Portsmouth Area Volunteer Cadet Corps (Juniors), a showcase of American Saddlebred horses, heavy horse competitions, side-saddle demonstrations, a parade of hounds and music by the Medina Marching Band.

A separate Countryside Ring will feature falconry displays, a farrier at work, a professional gun dog trainer, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, terrier racing, a heavy horse tug-of-war and a family dog show.

Other ever-popular events will include a Fur and Feather Show with rabbits, cavies (guinea pigs) and poultry. There will be a Hampshire Harvest food hall, selling a wide range of local produce, and a Countryside Information Tent with demonstrations by organisations working in and for rural affairs.

Attractions to be staged by local groups will include an art exhibition, cage bird show, bees and honey, home-made wine and beer, the WI, horticulture and floral arrangement competitions.

Improvements to the showground layout this year should enable a better flow for visitors. Transport around the site will again be provided by Trigger the Train and Professor Popoff's Fun Bus.

The Romsey Agricultural and Horse Show Society was originally formed in 1842 for "the encouragement of the breeding of horses and livestock, good husbandry and skilled labour."

This interest continues today with over 100 horse and donkey classes and new cattle classes, including Simmental beef. Schedules for these classes will be available mid-May from the show office, telephone 01794 517521.

In addition to the show, a new event being held by the society this year is a barn dance at Dene Farm, Nether Wallop, on June 7th, to raise money for Image of Agriculture, a campaign promoting the effect farming has on the countryside and its direct link with food.

The annual Farm Walk will be held on June 20th at the 4,000 acre Leckford Estate, near Stockbridge, which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership.

Romsey Show is a charity dedicated to the promotion of agriculture, forestry, horticulture, rural crafts and the breeding of livestock and horses.