My webinar in June with Lucinda Green was a welcome hour of delight. When I discovered that the recording hadn’t worked, at least I could be grateful that it was so interesting I’d remembered most of it! IH Teamwork meant that others had taken notes to make up for areas where I may have lapsed and I hope we’ve managed to capture the essence of the inspirational interview with Lucinda. These Zoom webinars feel so personal; like a one-on-one chat with a close friend. While I always have questions from IH Members, there is always the odd question that just comes into my mind too. Sometimes they surprise even me!

THE EARLY DAYS

Part of the fun of the interview was to get the feel of a different era. Lucinda started riding as a small child in the idyllic county of Hampshire in the late 1950s. In those times children would be riding ponies bareback and perhaps going off for hours at a time. No mobile phones, no Instagram. There was a storybook feel as she talked about these early days. I was instantly transported to that beautiful countryside; the picnics, the ponies, the ‘lashings of ginger beer.’ Lucinda’s parents said she must learn to ride before she could have her own pony. So, Lucinda had twice weekly lessons with a legendary local riding teacher called Betty Skelton. I thought maybe Betty Skelton was considered legendary because she taught Lucinda but then I read Mrs Skelton’s incredibly obituary*. Maybe the learning point here is to give your child the best chance to be a safe, strong rider; find them an excellent riding teacher right from their earliest days. So many children are put off riding by bad early experiences on unsuitable ponies. This will save their parents a fortune; but that’s not the point I’m looking to make here.