Situated in a stunning location, Lindores is renowned for its cross country course, offering everything from beginner-level obstacles to more challenging ones for seasoned competitors. If you’re gearing up for the year ahead, there’s no better place to fine-tune your skills than at our safe, fun and friendly venue.
One of our standout features is our authentic terrain. Unlike other venues with man-made or overly artificial jumps, we offer natural, varied ground that will truly test both you and your horse. The course is designed to replicate real undulating cross country conditions – giving you the best chance to prepare. Whether you’re jumping over ditches, navigating through water or tackling an array of diverse obstacles, the natural ground encourages you to develop a deeper connection with your horse and prepares you for everything the season may throw at you. It’s not just about jumping over a fence – it’s about learning to read the ground, adjust your pace and navigate the natural obstacles that you may face during competitions.
Whether you’re an amateur or seasoned competitor, the realistic undulating grass conditions, hills and environment at Lindores will help build confidence and refine your skills.
A Safe, Well-Maintained Venue
Safety is a top priority at Lindores and we know that’s something our riders appreciate. The course is maintained to ensure the highest level of safety for both horses and riders. The jumps are designed and pinned into the ground with precision. Every fence is pinned down in line with British Eventing Regulations.
Every year – British Eventing Course Builder Paul Ellis and his helper Jules (who loves dressing fences) stay for a week to: check and approve every fence. They decommission fences, upgrade old, build new and importantly anchor to the ground with pins every fence so they don’t move. Our course is built in line with latest British Eventing regulations. Paul is very experienced having worked at Horse Trial venues such as: Alnockford, Burgham 90, Breckenbrough, North Allerton, Allerton Park, Bramham, Chatsworth and also Badminton. He coaches our ground maintenance team in January/February face to face and after 36 years in business we feel confident we know what we’re doing.
We check and maintain the ground and our fences during our open season March – October very regularly to give you confidence the course is good going ground and safe. Not all venues that promote cross country training anchor their fences to the ground so it’s always worth checking that a fence is anchored to avoid it rotating on impact and to ensure your safety.
See above an image of a black metal ground anchor (on top of the 30cm log) – captured to show you the length and ultimately the depth the anchors screw into the ground for grip.
Fun and Friendly Atmosphere
The team here at Lindores are passionate about Equestrian sport and aim to make every rider feel at home. The sense of community is part of what makes Lindores such a special place to train. It’s not just a training venue – it’s a place where riders of all levels can come together, share tips and connect over their passion for the sport.
Prepare for the Season Ahead
The cross country course is ideal for honing your skills and building confidence. Regular training sessions could help you and your pony or horse develop the necessary stamina and technique, which is crucial for a successful season. Plus, the course allows you to progressively challenge yourself, whether you’re jumping 30cm, novice fences or taking on more advanced combinations. The diverse range of fences on the course provides a fantastic opportunity to work on specific technical questions – such as water jump combinations, ditches and the all-important ability to maintain a rhythm throughout a course.
We’ve something for all abilities! Get in touch if you have any questions or wish to book.
Be part of an award-winning, diversified, family run business, and help grow its hospitality, tourism and sporting enterprises which deliver 5-star customer experiences in beautiful rural Fife, Scotland.
The Lindores brands operate in multiple markets: domestic and international tourism, equestrian, farming and more recently catered hospitality. This diversity makes the job varied and exciting and you meet the most incredible people in a beautiful countryside setting.
We are a young, dynamic team, and are looking for a like-minded, positive individuals who take pride in their work.
Application Deadline Closed: Monday 30 October 2023
What next? After the deadline date applications are reviewed. Selected prospects will be invited for interview.
About our brands:
Brand ‘Lindores – Stay Ride Relax’ awarded Best Self Catering Accommodation Experience at VisitScotland Regional Thistle Awards Sept 2023. The business creates experiences for guests seeking a relaxing rural retreat. With four architecturally designed luxury holiday houses catering for a mix of markets. The business collaborates with great people and local businesses to create innovative, sustainable new experiences for guests on holiday. The Hide BBQ cabin is the newest experience offering incredible lunches with our partner chef’s and sommeliers www.lindores.co.uk
‘Lindores Equestrian’ was Awarded Equestrian Business of the Year 2019 at the national HorseScotland awards. We continue our journey to be the best horse holiday destination nationally. A British Horse Society Approved training facility for kids, adults, and horses of all abilities. Very welcoming and safe Scottish equestrian venue www.lindoresxc.co.uk
200 tonnes of arena surface available to buy. Richard is needing our old surface out of our farm shed before the 2023 barley harvest starts. So there is deal to be done for anyone keen to buy.
Arena Mate Harrow For Sale – Cost £1800 brand new in 2019. Link to supplier https://arenamate.co.uk
The outdoor arena surface at Lindores Equestrian was brand new in 2018 and created using Sharp Sand from Angle Park and Martin Collins Clopf Fibre. The surface is good quality and a firm favourite with our Equestrian clients. With the increasing demand for Equestrian camps, training, and clinics, we have made the difficult decision to uplift & sell our surface to allow us to re-do the drainage and lay a new surface using Silica Sand and Martin Collins Clopf Fibre. This will help to ensure our Equestrian clients can ride year-round, all weather and allows us to continue to improve the customer experience at Lindores Equestrian.
We were delighted to sponsor the British Eventing Under 18’s 90cm & 1m team and are so proud of their amazing efforts at the Bishop Burton Youth Championships. The team performed incredibly and have certainly made their mark on the British Eventing scene. We can’t wait to see what comes next for these passionate young Equestrians!
Here at Lindores, we are passionate about helping to develop the next generation of young equestrians and wanted to give you a glimpse into life on the team. We asked BE90 Scotland Captain Meg Christie to blog the teams journey at the Bishop Burton Youth Championship to share their experience and inspire other young riders to get involved!
Hi, my name is Meg Christie…
I was Captain of the Scottish British Eventing 90cm (BE90) Under 18 Team at Bishop Burton Youth Championships.
Being asked to be part of the BE90 team was a dream of mine for many years and I was over the moon to find out that I’d been selected. After my last qualifying event at Hopetoun House, the wait was so nerve racking!
Sorting all of our team’s merchandise was so exciting! I loved designing it and waiting for it all to arrive. Trying to figure out how we were going to get it all down there was the hardest part!
When we arrived, it was so exciting meeting everyone for the first time and getting everything set up. I loved putting up the Scotland bunting as it made it feel so real… Scotland definitely had the best-looking stables!
Participating in the Opening Ceremony was such a great experience and a feeling I will never forget! I was so nervous doing my first ever trot up, never having done one before, but the whole team passed without exception.
On the Thursday night, we had our team dinner which turned into a talent spot competition and even though Scotland didn’t win, we certainly left our mark!
It was so amazing watching everyone in the team riding lovely dressage tests and coming out of the arena delighted with how their test had gone! It was such a buzz of excitement riding at Bishop Burton College and I was so happy with how calm my pony Midnight stayed all the way through the test in such an atmosphere.
On Saturday morning the BE90 team helped wash down all of the 100 horses after Cross Country. It was great fun trying not to soak everyone with buckets of water but, we all came back soaked… whoops!
That afternoon, the BE90 team went Cross Country – some riders had their challenges but everyone had a smile on their face at the end of the day!
I was last to go in the team and the second last run of the whole day, which meant everyone was there to cheer me at the finish! Midnight flew round the Cross Country and I never had a moment of doubt!
The last morning was a long one getting Midnight cleaned for trot up, but I was extremely grateful to my sister and the rest of my family for helping me to make sure that we were both looking at our best! Again, we all passed the trot up and went on to Show Jumping in the afternoon. Midnight jumped an amazing round with just one unlucky pole.
Our team finished 8th overall with some amazing scores and it was really nice handing out the rosettes to everyone at the end!
It was such an amazing experience and I have so many memories that will stick with me forever! The team was such an amazing group of people, children, parents, helpers – they all made the experience! The coaches helped so much, and we are all extremely grateful to them. All of our sponsors were so generous, and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without their assistance. Finally, we all want to say a massive thank you to our ponies, we wouldn’t be able to achieve any of this without them and they really are the best!
If you would like to find out how you can become part of the British Eventing Youth team, check out their website.
Here at Lindores we have multiple facilities available to hire including our British Eventing approved Cross Country course, 60m x 40m sand arena with full set of show jumps, Working Hunter field with full set of rustic jumps as well as Show Jumping and Dressage on grass. For more information and to book your next training session, visit our website.
British Eventing Scottish Under 18 Team training at Lindores Equestrian
Lindores Equestrian has launched an exciting new partnership working with Paul Ellis, a Gold level BE accredited course builder, who builds, designs and dresses courses across the UK and Europe from BE80 to 5 star such as Athens and London Olympics.
Paul spent a very busy few days with in April us as he inspected and advised on our cross country course, Show Jumps and Working Hunter. We are proud to say that we continue to be fully compliant with BE regulations, and Paul was very complimentary about our courses.
“You have a fantastic set up for so many people to come and enjoy…”
Maintenance Undertaken
Maintenance work was undertaken to ensure our cross country was in the best shape possible, with take-off and landing areas dug back (once we got the digger up the hill!), ground lines cleared and painted, the visibility of top rails enhanced, and existing fences smartened up.
Course Development
Paul also built some new fences and combinations on the course. We have a new dog’s leg near the water complex which includes a new shoulder brush, and two log piles have been relocated to a different section of the course to provide new related distance combinations.
Water Complex
The water complex was empty for Paul’s visit in April so he was able to complete a thorough inspection of both the ground and sections of the jumps usually submerged. The ground was confirmed to be level and well maintained since its extension in 2020. Following Paul’s inspection, we have also installed a pump system this summer to keep the levels in the water complex nice and high in drier periods, so there will always be plenty to splash around in!
Training
The team at Lindores have 30 years experience running an equestrian training venue but now Vicki has joined the team and Aaron as our lead on ground maintenance man they both received 1:1 training with Paul on the latest British Eventing regulations on fence safety, ground maintenance, fence combinations and colour considerations for our fences. Paul introduced our team to a new app which now helps our team compare what the horse can see versus what we see:
Following this technological insight we painted the top rail and ground line of the cottage in the wood, ditch edges and numerous other fences. All of this to help the horse better judge the jumps on approach.
The course is looking good and most importantly has been through a rigorous set of checks to ensure your safety with full compliance to BE regulations. We are thrilled to be working with Paul in maintaining the excellence of our courses at Lindores, and are very much looking forward to his next visit and the further development of our courses.
To come and see what we have been up to, bookings can be made online at:
