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LAHORE: National Horse and Cattle Show, revived after eight years, opened at the Fortress Stadium here on Monday.

On a colorful note with engrossing presentation of a variety of events from children calisthenics display to cavalcade of country's livestock wealth to a thrilling free fall performance by Army commandos.

The five-day show was declared open by the Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool. The Governor on his arrival at the venue was received by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi under whose stewardship the cultural event has been arranged.

The show was watched among others by the members of the Punjab Cabinet, Administrative secretaries and high ranking military officials. Among the audience were a sprinkling of foreigners residing in Lahore.

Organized under the patronage of Punjab Chief Minister Ch. Pervaiz Elahi, the arrangements were supervised by the Punjab Local Government Department with the assistance of Information, Communication and Works, Education and
Tourism Departments, Lahore District Government, Army and Rangers.

Main Events

The day time main events included unity show, army band display, calisthenics, cavalcade of livestock, grey hound race, folk dance, tent pegging, motorcycle trick-riding by the military police, bullock cart race, horse and camel dance, and free fall by Army paratroopers.

Among the visitors was also Saleh Bin Isa Bin Hindi, Advisor to the Emir of Bahrain who arrived this morning on a three-day visit.

Display of Portraits

The show began with a display of portraits of President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Punjab Governor and Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi by nearly three thousand school-children who were holding image cards and formed various pictures during the course of the three-hour long show.

The students of the Pilot Secondary School, Wahdat Colony, attired in maroon clothes presented a PT display. This was followed by a mass band display by the various bands of the Pakistan Army who played numerous tunes while making different formations.

Different Diagrams

Under sunlit skies, students of the various city district government, put up a captivating calisthenics display by forming different diagrams.

Cavalcade

The next item was a cavalcade of livestock showcasing the animal wealth of the country. These included bulls, cows, buffaloes, heifers, goats, sheep, rams of various breed from different parts of the country such as Red Sindhi, Tharparkar, Bhagnari, Dajal, Rojhan, Lohani, Cholistani, Haryana, Kankarej, Friesian, NiliRavi, Kundi, Lohi, Thalli, Damani, Buchi, Kajli, Kooka, Kachhi, Khadali, Sipli, Bag Hdale, Rambouillet, Angora, Beetal, Hastnagri, Harnai, Nachi, Kamori, Teddy and Kaghani.

Grey Hounds

After the cavalcade, grey hounds races attracted the spectators as groups of specially trained and sleek looking canine chased electronic hare.

Folk Dances

This was followed by enchanting folk dances. Wearing multicolored clothes, some 1200 dancers presented folk dances of Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan, drawing loud applause from the spectators.

Pegging

The next item that fascinated the audience were the team and individual tent pegging competitions. Sturdy horsemen belonging to the Sargodha region showed their skills by picking up pegs with uncanny accuracy.

MPs Motorcycle Trick-ride

Led by subedar Pervez Akhtar, a squadron of Military Police presented a thrilling motorcycle trick ride, showing their command and control over the two-wheeler.

Lilting National Songs

Girl students of Junior Model School, Mozang Adda, sang lilting national songs. The show wound up with the spectacular free fall display by a group of Army commandos who landed with pinpoint accuracy on the target area inside the stadium from a dizzying height of 10,000 feet.