Lucinda Sims comes from a very horsey background. Her great-grandparents were the first married couple to represent Great Britain at show-jumping (Spa, Belgium 1904). Her great-grandfather, Harry Buckland, won the International High Jump at Olympia in 1909.

Her grandmother, Betty Skelton was president of the Side Saddle Association of Great Britain for 30 years until her death, at 96, in 2006. Mrs Skelton was the author of many published books on equestrianism. She owned and produced the show ponies Chocolate Box, Catriona, and Picture Play which, ridden by Lucinda’s mother (Jinks Bryer), were all-conquering in the late 1940s and early ’50s. These ponies, with others, were to become the foundation stock of the modern show pony. Mrs Skelton also, for many years, taught Lucinda Green to ride as well as other well-known riders such as Lorna Clarke and Angela Tucker.

Mrs Bryer lives in Dorset where she breeds sport horses and teaches children of all ages. Lucinda and Jinks have bred and produced, in recent years, five advanced event horses.

Lucinda had a good grounding in basics having ridden since she was tiny and helping her mother break, school and produce. She has an all-round interest in all competitive spheres of the horse world at the highest level – but particularly eventing and showing. She was a professional child rider on show ponies and was in all PC senior inter-branch teams from the age of 13. She gained her A Test and AI at 17. She started eventing at 16 and was short-listed for Junior, Young Riders and Senior teams and made it to first reserve for the all-conquering British team for the eventing World Championships of 1982. Lucinda competed at her first Badminton Horse Trials at just 19 years old, on her Pony Club horse, Tilly Davins.

Lucinda went on to compete at both Badminton and Burghley several times with Queen Hill, a failed hurdler who was bought for 500 guineas at the Ascot sales. This cemented a lifelong love of the thoroughbred which endures today.

Lucinda has also competed in the non-championship British teams on various occasions in Ireland, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Over the years she competed in nearly 60 three-day events. Lucinda retired to have children in 1988, but subsequently had a small renaissance on Rupert the Red whom she took from novice to advanced and then to compete abroad at international three-day level.

Lucinda has judged at the Horse of the Year Show, the Royal International and the Royal Dublin Show. Overseas she has judged at the Rand Show in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Grand National Show at Wyong, Sydney, Australia, the New Zealand Horse of the Year Show and in the U.A.E.

Lucinda has been one of the chief evaluators for the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) young horse evaluations and has graded mares into the British Sport Horse Stud Book. As well as being the Chief Instructor in her Pony Club branch (the RA) she is also a Pony Club ‘A’ test examiner and a British Eventing (BE) accredited trainer. She served on the council of the NPS for 3 years.

In 2012 Lucinda was given the Cubitt Award for “36 years of outstanding service” to the Pony Club.

She also continues her grandmother’s lifelong passion for side saddle as an A Grade side saddle instructor.

Now Lucinda focuses entirely on retraining former racehorses, and promoting the versatility of the thoroughbred. Harroway is currently home to 10 former racehorses, headed by the legends that are Balthazar King and Zarkandar. Lucinda works closely with the Retraining of Racehorses charity through teaching, open days and participating in parades.