Over 100,000 people are expected to attend the Dublin Horse Show which will be held at the RDS showgrounds over the next five days.
The show, which has just over half a million euro on offer in prizemoney, has attracted some of the world's top showjumping teams.
Teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States will be competing over the five days.
The Irish team will include Olympic hopefuls Marion Hughes, Jessica Kurten, Cian O'Connor and reserve rider Billy Twomey.
They will be attempting to avoid relegation from the ranks of the top showjumping nations following the controversy over the management of the team for the Olympics.
A total of 1,400 horses and ponies from just about every corner of this island will be at the RDS over the week, taking part in the various showing classes and the 34 jumping competitions, including the Samsung International Grand Prix on Sunday.
Thursday is Ladies' Day when there is expected to be keen competition. The top prize for the best dressed woman is a €10,000 Appleby diamond.
Friday is Nations Cup Day and there is heavy booking for the Aga Khan international showjumping competition in the afternoon.
Elsewhere, there are 275 trade stands and there will be lots of entertainment for the visitors.
The Galway-based Macnas group will perform their show Lost in Time.
Dino the Dinosaur, Batman and Robin, and Punch and Judy will also be found nearby.
The band lawn is also the "music centre" of the show where jazz and traditional music programmes are a daily feature. Frenchman Patrick Bourny and his motorcycle acrobatic team will perform daily.
The show opens from 9.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. Daily adult admission is €15. Senior citizens, children under 16 and students with ID card pay €10.
A family ticket admitting two adults and up to four children under 16 costs €38 while an adult season ticket costs €44.
Children's season tickets are €30 while the "Sunday Family Special" ticket for families costs €33.
There will also be a special concession for families travelling by DART to the show.