COMPETITORS and their teams of heavy horses will pit their skills against each other in a ploughing competition at the weekend.

Fifteen teams of horses from around the country will take part in the annual Beamish Ploughing Match at Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham, on Saturday.

Judges will scrutinise how the teams are managed and the quality of the ploughing, with particular attention to the opening and finishing of plots.

The competition, at Home Farm, will start at 10am and continue until 3.30pm, with prizes presented to the winners after 4pm.

Each competitor will receive a personalised copy of a ploughing competition certificate dating from the early 1900s, along with a commemorative Beamish horse brass.

Alongside the ploughing match will be two other competitions, one of which is the decorated heavy horse competition.

Throughout the day, the horses are prepared and dressed with colourful ribbons, traditional decorations and fine leather harness.

In the agricultural turnout competition, the entrants will be judged on the presentation of their horse and agricultural vehicle.

A threshing machine, powered by the 1906 Clayton and Shuttleworth steam engine Louise, will be in action nearby.