The first day of Lincolnshire Show 2023 was enjoyable and all seemed to go to plan, but on Thursday we got wind of a farcical situation evolving in one of the showing rings.
As you can see from this photo, the plan was for this in-hand ring to split into two at 1pm, with Section A classes being judged in one half and Shetlands in the other half. The Section A ponies would be followed by the Section B ponies and the in-hand Mountain & Moreland ponies would follow at 2pm - although not clear where, we assumed after the Shetlands.
12.30pm - Bearing in mind it is a hot day, with temperatures up in the higher twenties, the Shetland handlers started to gather with their ponies, waiting patiently just outside the ring.
1pm - The Section A judge started judging her classes and, because it was a large ring, she was telling the handlers to only use half of the ring. No barrier had been placed down the middle. The Shetland exhibitors could see their judge waiting, but she wasn't going into the other half of the ring.
1.10pm - Someone went over to investigate and was told that the ring was not now going to be split but no explanation was given. The Section Bs would follow the Section As. The Shetlands would follow the Section Bs. The M&Ms would now follow the Shetlands whenever that was. Certainly not at 2pm.
The Shetland handlers continued to wait with their ponies, finding any shade they could from the hot sun. There was frustration that half of the ring was available to be used but they were not allowed to use it.
Tempers got a bit frayed. At some point, and we haven't heard details, one or more of the showing stewards was subjected to some abuse about how stupid it was to have half a ring available and not use it. We certainly cannot condone this sort of behaviour but it has to be said the farce was only getting started.
1.47pm - An announcement was made, stating that the Shetlands would follow the Section As and Bs and should be starting at 2pm. At this point the Welsh pony judge had been making excellent progress but had not yet reached the Section A Championship, so there was no way that the Section Bs were going to be finished by 2pm.
2.30pm - The same announcement was made, explaining that the Shetlands would be going into the ring at 2pm. Yes, 2pm. There was audible laughter around the ring and a cry of "dickhead!"
2.45pm - A senior steward is seen talking to the stewards in the ring.
2.50pm - The Sections Bs are nearing completion in the ring. Another announcement is made. The Shetlands will now use the other half of the ring (as originally advertised on the board). The ring will be split. More audible sarcastic laughter. There is also a reminder, from the same announcer who believed in time travel, that stewards are volunteers and should not be the target for abuse of any kind.
3.15pm - The Shetlands finally enter the other half of the ring and start their classes. The Section Bs finish their championship five minutes later. The large breed M&Ms follow them and finally the ring has two concurrent sections to save time.
5.45pm - Despite the two concurrent rings, the M&M Championship now takes place with no spectators. It would have been at least an hour or more earlier had the ring been split at 1pm.
We realise that the organisation of these showing rings was in the hands of volunteers, but it seemed as though one person might have decided not to split the ring, and it wasn't until there were overwhelming objections from the other stewards about how long the classes would go on, that backtracking occurred.
Let's just hope that the Shetlands don't boycott the show in future and that the show doesn't take it out on the Shetland handlers and reduce their timetable time.
Lincolnshire Show 2023 Facilities
As far as the rest of the showground is concerned, the permanent facilities were good. Toilet blocks were in decent enough condition.
The food outlets near the equine rings were particularly good this year. In addition to the usual bars and ice cream vans, there were two large units, one selling variations of chicken, either in a wrap or with chips in a tray, or even a wrap which included chips in it, perhaps another time! The other of these units was selling pulled pork in various optional forms - the feedback from both was great.