30 August Not been very good at keeping up to date with my blog! We have had a fairly quiet summer but busier since the middle of August. Riders and horses having an outing before Craigie and some of the other Autumn events. For once we have had water in the water jump all summer! In the midst of harvest - can't believe how quickly this year has gone. Only about 8 weeks left until we close for the season so if you want a run round the course before then just give us a call. Please use the house phone 01337 840351. I keep getting messages and calls on my mobile - but I am usually out of the house and don't have the diary with me. Good luck to all who are off to Craigie this weekend.

6 July Summer is well and truly here! Hopefully it will keep fair this week for Pony Club Camps starting - hope you all have great fun! As usual with the start of the school holidays we are getting busier again. We are also trying to arrange some training days before the Autumn Events. Keep checking the website although I will email dates when I get them. Unfortunately some emails are not getting through. If you are not getting my updates and would like them just send me your email address.  Can't believe we are in to July already.  For once we managed to get the hay in with little rain. Best we have made in years but not a huge crop. Just spent three days at Scone Game Fair where daughter Suzanne (the non-horsy one!) had a stand. She was promoting her new website www.fetlocksandfeathers.co.uk which she has added to her portrait and wedding photography www.suzanneblackphotography.co.uk   The Friday and Saturday were very successful but Sunday saw us sheltering in our stand - holding on to posters and photos so that they wouldn't blow away with the flaps have shut! If you are stuck for ideas for a present have a look at her websites - she will do vouchers if required! Hopefully we will see you back during the summer and autumn and as usual we will be closing at the end of October until the beginning of March.

13 June After the usual quiet spell we are now picking up and this week has been really busy. School holidays are just round the corner and we are getting in bookings for July and August. We are in the process of setting up some training days similar to those we ran in the Spring, with various instructors. I will email my client list when these are finalized. We hope to run some prior to Strathallen and Scone and also prior to Craigie. Just send me your email address if you wish this send to you. We also have our first Pony Club booking for October - Balbeggie. We close at the end of October. We are also thinking about running some clear round jumping in the mini field for the nervous and novices sometime in the summer holidays. We love to hear feedback so any ideas you have just let us know. Pony Club Camps and Tetrathlon will be coming round shortly so why not come and have a refresher round of the cross country before then.

7 May With all the excitement of the Election now over, but not quite decided, life gets back to normal! All the Spring events seem to have passed and on the whole the weather has been kind. We are now taking bookings for the summer holidays and the autumn. Where is this year going!! Our lambing is finished and for those that watch "The Hour" from 5 - 6 on Scottish/Grampian you may have seen our farm during the last month. Son Richard has been filmed for their program and they are filming throughout the year! Course is fairly quiet just now, normal for May and June everyone out competing. Bookings are coming in for the summer holidays and the Autumn. Hope to see you then! See Prices for details of rally days etc.

18 April What a great spell of weather. Lots of folk up the hill and in the wee field. Last weekend especially was great - wall to wall sunshine! West Perthshire PC were up on  Monday with David Gatherer instructing - they had a great time. On Tuesday Lisa Hood held a training day and she had a great turnout - all happy faces! Great practice for Craigie and Auchlishie which are both being held today - shame about the rain this morning. Hope it went well for all competing. Course now quieter - we are open in the evenings 7 days a week. Starting to take bookings from clubs for the summer holidays! Good luck to those doing Central Scotland Horse Trials at Scone next weekend.

29 March 2010 First lambs have been born - just in time for some crap weather this week. Walked the course at Montrave. Hope your horse was fit!! Lovely setting, great well built jumps but some quite tricky! and the weather stayed kind. Would be interesting to know if any particular jump caused any problems. For anyone interested son Richard appeared on STV's "The Hour" last week! . You can watch it  here.. http://bit.ly/cmMXbx click on Pt2 its 1/2 way in - it was all about Spring on the farm!!! They are coming back in a few weeks when we are in the midst of lambing maybe we will get the cross country on next time! Roadworks in Cupar have closed down the centre so it is a nightmare! Diversions are in place but not very clear so check your route before you come and try to avoid it altogether. Apologies for the wrong road on the directions from Dundee - it is the A92 that you need not the one heading for St Andrews!!! It has now been changed on the website.

25 March 2010 The weather was kind and we had our busiest weekend ever!  Saturday saw Glenbrae Riding Club up in the morning and in the afternoon Diana Zajda ran a BHS training course along with Julia Craig.  Luckily we had the grass paddock to park - at one point it looked as though there were enough vehicles for an event!! Sunday saw Glenrothes Pony Club up in the morning and Perth PC in the afternoon.  Our new corners and rolltops seem to be jumping well. We have a few more pony clubs coming for practice (see training page for details). Weekends are not so busy now so plenty spaces. Good luck to everyone who has entered Montrave this weekend, I will be going along with camera to see what new jumps are about and whether anything is causing particular problems. Any requests for jumps let us know. With Craigie, Hallyburton, Kirriemuir, Auchlishie and Scone all coming up within the next few weeks it is going to be a busy time so if you want a practice book now.

15 March 2010 What a great weekend! After the quiet autumn last year we were not sure how the bookings would go. We were really busy over Saturday and Sunday with everyone keen to get going after the winter. The new corners and rolltops seem to be meeting with approval. These were built by John Gilmour so should be the same as you meet at Montrave! Both days were blessed with sunshine, but rather cold. We did have some nervous kids who decided the mini field was more their style than the hill but came out of there beaming - maybe next time they will brave the "big course!" As long as everyone is enjoying themselves and come down safely that is what we aim for!! Another busy weekend next weekend but plenty slots mid week - we are open till about 6.30 at the moment, light permitting. Longer hours with the time change.

3 March 2010 Now we are OPEN! Had our first clients up yesterday afternoon and although some parts were still frosty they did manage to get over some of the jumps. The water was given a miss! - still frozen and a bit deep just now. Lots of the PC/RCs have booked for the Spring so check on the Training page if your club has booked.

16 Feb 2010 Sun is shining so hopefully it will continue and we will be able to open on the 1st March. Just heading up the hill to do some repairs after the sheep and cattle have had fun with the jumps over the winter! Spaces for the last three weekends in March are becoming limited so if you want a practice before Montrave and Hallyburton give us a call. We are open in the evenings, light permitting. Please remember when you come, give yourself time to tack up - your booked time is from when you are at the first jump - not when you arrive! Look forward to seeing all our regular clients and hopefully some new faces! We ask that everyone using the course now signs an annual disclaimer. In one way this saves time when coming on multiple visits. If you are in charge of a group please make sure that everyone is happy for you to sign for them, if not, just get each person to sign. Anyone under the age of 16 must have an adult sign for them.

DIY Livery/Grazing available - £25 per week. This includes stable and straw. Full use of the facilities including both xc is included in the price. If you are interested please call and you can come and inspect the stables etc. Ponies welcome but children must be supervised and not left on their own as we are a working farm.

LINDORES XC CELEBRATES IT'S 21ST BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR!!!Hard to believe that we have been going 21 years. We opened in March 1989 with just 20 jumps! It is due to the great support we have had from riders of all abilities in Central Scotland that has kept the course going - our thanks to you all. Long may it continue!

25 January 2010 At last - no snow and horses coming out of hibernation! Got dates for Montrave - normally the first hunter trial - it is on Sunday 28 March with Hallyburton on Monday 5 April and Craigie on the 18 April. Bookings are coming in for the weekends so if you want a practice before Montrave give us a call. Check with your pony/riding club as they may have booked a session. One change this year - we do not book instruction for you. It would seem insurance companies are clamping down on instructors so please check that who you choose to instruct you has got the relevant insurance. All the instructors on our website should be contacted directly - they are all BHS qualified with insurance up to date. I am not sure how this affects pony clubs who used to use some of their older members - perhaps someone could let me know!

14 January 2010 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Interesting weather!! Hard to believe that the course opens in about six weeks. We are getting bookings for the weekends from pony/riding clubs so if you know you have a hunter trial/event coming up and want a practice after having ridden so little over the winter give us a call and get your slot booked now. We have about three weekends (last two in March and first in April) that everyone seems to want for practice! We have had a big insurance hike and health and safety are becoming a bit of nightmare. However we are going to keep our prices the same as last year.  Riding/Pony clubs can book 11/2hrs for £12 2hrs for £15. Individuals are £15 per hour. In busy times there may be two individual groups on the hill at the one time as there is plenty room, ie booked at 1/2 hr slots as last year we turned people away - don't like doing that! As far as Instruction is concerned, this year you have to arrange your own instruction and check that your instructor has insurance. Keeping fingers crossed that the snow will disappear soon so we can get up to check the course! If you have an event that you are organising and would like it on my "What's on" just let me know.

28 Dec 2009 Everyone wanted a white christmas!! Maybe not this much snow, good for skiers but not riding! We hope you had a great Xmas and wish you all the best for 2010. Now is the time for pony club and riding clubs to book their slots for dates in the Spring. If you wish a particular time for practice do book well in advance as the last two weeks in March and all of April are always particularly busy.  Remember we have our mini course at the farm which proved popular for the more nervous and those with young horses. Look forward to seeing you all again in the Spring.

28 Sept 2009  We have decided to close the course early this year as we are really quiet - if you don't use it you lose it!! We are closing on the 14th October until the beginning of March - we may open early if  by some chance we get an early spring! Thanks to all who have used the course over the last year.