IT’S just a tradition that’s centuries old.

People travelled to Wickham yesterday from across the UK and Ireland for one of the biggest and oldest horse fairs in the country.

Thousands of people lined the streets as hundreds of decorated horses and ponies were ridden bareback up and down Winchester Road by boys as young as 12.

Other horses and tiny foals waited alongside rows of horseboxes for their turn to be shown to the crowds.

Jesse Goddard, whose family have organised the 800-year-old Royal Chartered event for more than 80 years said horses had gone from anywhere between £50 and £5,000.

The 56-year-old from Bordon, said: “My family has been running it for generations.

“My grandfather, Jess, turned up one year with just one pony and a truck when he came for the market. If he hadn’t been here that day then there wouldn’t have been a fair because the charter would have run out.

“I have been at this fair all my life. It’s just a tradition. We look forward to Wickham. There aren’t many of these chartered fairs left now.”

There was a heavy police presence at the fair and numerous officers from the RSPCA, who were there as a precaution.

However, both organisations said they had no major incidents.

Chief inspector Cathy Hyde from the animal charity said they had treated a horse for an eye infection and removed a dog from a car.

She said: “There have been some minor issues regarding the condition some of the horses are in but the majority of the animals at the fair are in very good condition and the whole atmosphere has been very positive.”

Chief Inspector Jason Kenny from Hampshire Police said: “There’s been a great atmosphere at this year’s Wickham Horse Fair and I’d like to thank everyone who attended and the local community for helping the event run smoothly.”

In previous years the fair has seen mass brawls and in 2013 a man was shot in the head with a marble fired from a catapult.