Despite the precision of the design at Cranmore Farm, the Costwold base of Olympic gold medallist Laura Tomlinson, the atmosphere is far from regimented. Dogs pad around at your heels, children’s ponies intermingle with grand prix horses, and the mood among the team is relaxed and unforced.
As we mic Laura up for some video work in the gallery – lined with framed back issues of Horse & Hound and old winners’ rugs repurposed as cushion covers – her husband Mark Tomlinson, and Laura’s youngest, Tommy, appear on the deck with his pony, Tiso, to say hello.
Family life and the horses don’t run in parallel lanes; they overlap constantly.
“These days, the horses fit around the kids rather than the other way round,” Laura says. “Everything’s a lot less routine than it used to be.”
On a typical day, mornings begin away from the yard. “I do the school run and then come onto the yard at about nine or 9.15.”
Riding happens first, before the rest of the day unfolds around it. “I’ll ride in the morning, and then in the afternoons the horses are still busy – hacking, treadmill, lungeing, turnout. We do a lot of in-hand work in the afternoons now, too.”
Laura Tomlinson, Mark Tomlinson, their son Tommy and Tiso the pony.
(Image credit: Joss Ridley Photography)
There’s no rigid weekly plan. “My work changes depending on whether or not I’m building towards something – it’s never the same every week.”
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Fitting it all together requires constant recalibration. “You’re always going to drop the ball somewhere – that’s just life – but I’m quite good at being organised within the chaos. I don’t have huge chunks of spare time, so I have to be quite efficient with the time I do have.”
Full Moon II (Fürstenball x Gribaldi) – who’s just completed his first season at grand prix – is the first horse Laura rides. The pair head into the vast outdoor arena to begin with unhurried stretching work before going into 10 minutes of specific work on the canter pirouettes. Watching from the side is former Belgian grand prix rider Carl Cuypers, a familiar and steady presence at Cranmore Farm. His approach to training is deliberately low key.
Laura Tomlinson riding Full Moon II.
(Image credit: Joss Ridley Photography)
“Laura already understands the horses very well,” he says. “My job isn’t to change everything – it’s to support what’s there, keep things consistent and make it easier for the horse.”
Looking back, Laura is open about how her perspective on ambition has shifted. “It took me a while to get my head around not having a horse at that very top level,” she admits. “I probably tried to jump-start things a bit early a few times, wanting horses to be something they maybe weren’t ready to be – or were never going to be.”
With four young children and a full life beyond the arena, she’s more realistic now.
“I’m still competitive, but I’m fairer to myself than I used to be. I don’t have the same time or energy that most of my competitors do – and that’s just the reality.”
What hasn’t changed is the satisfaction she finds in producing horses herself. “The satisfaction for me now is doing one that I’ve brought all the way through.”
To read the full six-page Access All Areas feature with Laura Tomlinson, pick up a copy of Horse & Hound magazine, in shops from Thursday 15 January
Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
