Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser took an early lead at the beginning of today’s dressage phase at Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, when they pulled off a personal best of 23.4.
“It’s a shame he didn’t do that test in Tokyo,” said Tom, with a smile, of the horse on whom he led Great Britain to Olympic team gold in Japan last year and also netted individual silver.
“He was phenomenal [today],” added Tom. “The half passes were lovely; he was smooth in his body and kept up a great rhythm, and it was pretty well mistake-free.
“It’s lovely to be back here at Badminton.”Tom holds a 1.4-penalty lead over fellow British pair Kitty King and Vendredi Biats, who scored 24.8.
‘I’m not used to getting 10s’
Kitty’s smart grey, on whom she was a part of the 2021 all-female European gold medal-winning British team, earned a 10 in the halt.
“I didn’t know about the 10, so when there was a gasp from the crowd as I went into medium canter I thought, ‘yikes, where am I going?’. I’m not used to getting 10s,” she smiled.
Kitty was visibly emotional when talking about Vendredi Biats performance.
“He was tricky yesterday, breaking in all his medium trots, which made me a bit stressed,” she admitted.
“He was much more with me when I rode him this morning.”
‘I feel shell-shocked’
Mollie Summerland and Charly Van Ter Heiden complete the British top three, occupying third at this stage — just 0.1 of a penalty behind Kitty King.
“He means the world to me and just to be here with him — to ride in that arena with him — was a privilege,” said the 24-year-old rider of the horse on whom she won last year’s Luhmuhlen CCI5* in Germany.
Charly Van Ter Heiden picked up an injury after Luhmuhlen and was out of action.“I’ve found it tough since Luhmuhlen, putting pressure on myself with altered expectations,” confessed Mollie.
“To be honest, I feel a little bit shell-shocked. I’ve never ridden in front of crowds like that and I’m so proud of him. He deserves that score.”
‘In it for the long haul’
American first-timer Tamra Smith lies fourth aboard Mai Baum.
Two riders share fifth place: defending champions Piggy March and Vanir Kamira plus 2009 winner Oliver Townend with Swallow Springs.
The latter is a new ride for Oliver and the horse has Badminton experience, as he finished fifth here with retired New Zealander Andrew Nicholson in 2019.A further 42 combinations will perform their dressage tests tomorrow. Austria’s Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati riding DSP Cosma will be first into the arena at 9.30am and the final competitor — Kylie Roddy on SRS Kan Do — is due to trot up the centre line at 5.08pm.Representatives of the presenting sponsor, Mars Equestrian, pronounced themselves delighted with the first day. Geoffrey Galant,
Geoffrey Galant, vice president for new title sponsor Mars Equestrian, said of day one: “This is the perfect fit for us. It’s great to see such an international field, and to see the home audience cheering loudly for all of them. I promise we are in it for the long haul.”
Top 10 after dressage day one
1, Tom McEwen (Toledo de Kerser) GBR 23.4
2, Kitty King (Vendredi Biats) GBR 24.8
3, Mollie Summerland (Charly Van Ter Heiden) GBR 24.9
4, Tamra Smith (Mai Baum) USA 25.3
=5, Oliver Townend (Swallow Springs) GBR & Piggy French (Vanir Kamira) 25.7
7, Amanda Pottinger (Just Kidding) NZL 25.9
8, Ros Canter (Allstar B) GBR 26.4
9, Nicola Wilson (JL Dublin) GBR 26.5
=10, Pippa Funnell (Billy Walk On) GBR & Emily King (Valmy Biats) GBR 28.5
View the full overnight leaderboard here.Main photo: Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser. Credit: Kit Houghton
