Lincoln

Lincoln was a rather mixed weekend, as it can be!

Parklane Hawk, Seacookie and Cool Mountain all had really good runs, and were happy to be out.

They all produced very pleasing tests, and were not as excited as they might have been.  They jumped well and it was so nice to jump in the main arena at Lincoln on perfect going.  I took them all steadily cross country.  Lincoln always produce an interesting course which is great for the more experienced horses as it gets them thinking.  I think for a genuine Intermediate horse the course is slightly too much at this stage in the season, and it did cause plenty of trouble.  They had made a few changes to keep us on our toes which is always appreciated, but the extra trees in the jump coming off the Normandy bank produced a very punishing drop landing which I felt was a bit unnecessary.

However, I couldn't get away without my usual Lincoln drama, and this happened in the show jumping on Gaucho.  He seemed to be spooked by a couple of girls sitting on the landing side of the fence, which made him put down and in doing so, threw me straight over his head.  It was very frustrating as he was jumping well.  Before Time sadly didn’t get to go to cross country as a result of this, which was a real shame as he had done a very good test of 29 and jumped clear.

It was a real treat for everyone to enjoy Lincoln in the sunshine on perfect ground.  The event organisers and team thoroughly deserved a bit of luck after last years’ horrendous weather.

It is hard to believe that we are enjoying such fantastic conditions.  The horses are very happy to be back out in the fields, and everything is drying up incredibly fast.

Thanks to Julia Shearwood for the photographs