Bride-to-be banned from reading Horse & Hound
A catch-up with her favourite magazine almost ended in disaster for a bride-to-be.
Lydia Jones, who is getting married this weekend (27 June), thought she had landed her dream job.
She left her role at a hospital and started working for her fiancé Rob on his farm in Wales.
One of her first tasks at the Pembrokeshire farm was to drive a tractor towing a potato bed tiller slowly along the furrows in a large field.
To pass the time between turns, she would read H&H in the cab.
“She was just going up and down the tills only at walking pace,” said her father Steve Jones.
“She didn’t have to do anything until she turned the tractor round at the end.”
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But one day in March, she became so engrossed in a dressage report that she did not realise what was happening behind her.
She was called over the radio and told to look back.
The tiller had picked up a large stone, burning out the clutch and smoke was billowing out of it.
“It is repairable but will cost a little bit,” said Steve.
“She is banned from reading H&H when she is driving the tractor!”
He added that Rob was “really, really cross” but has now forgiven her.
The keen rider reads the magazine from “cover to cover”, according to her father.
However, Lydia had to sell her horse Lates Diamond (pictured) earlier this year to pay for the wedding.
She was working at medium-level dressage with the mare before she was sold and likes to keep up to date with the sport by reading the dressage pages.
“I am allowed a horse again after we get married!” she said.
Lydia and Rob are getting married on 27 June in Spittal and are set to have their reception on the farm.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.