‘I always seem to end up with massive horses’: over 18hh eight-year-old won over all three judges to take the HOYS Future Elite dressage title
Olympic gold medallist Laura Tomlinson won the Dressage Future Elite Championship at HOYS for the second time in three years, on Ostmarks Digal, who came from the same German yard as her former top ride, Rose Of Bavaria
Laura Tomlinson won the Dressage Future Elite Championship at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) for the second time in three years on Thursday evening, this time with eight-year-old gelding Ostmarks Digal (Grand Galaxy x De Noir).
The Olympic gold medallist, who took the title in 2024 on the homebred Forest Hill, scored 77.79% for her inter I freestyle in the Andrews Bowen International Arena. All three judges placed the pair first, and they finished almost two percentage points clear of Gareth Hughes and Morricone III (75.92%), with Dannie Morgan and Fever Tree third (73.58%).
“I’m feeling quite excited that I’ve got something quite special under the saddle, and hopefully something really impressive for the future,” Laura said.
“I always seem to end up with massive horses! He is well over 18 hands, but he is very elegant with it and he is lovely to ride.”
Laura has had the gelding since December, when he arrived from the same German yard as her former top ride Rose Of Bavaria, who retired in 2024.
In eight outings since, he has not finished outside the top two and has won all but two tests. At the LeMieux National Dressage Championships last month, he won two titles, the Fairfax Saddles PSG gold (71.79%) and the D&H gold inter I (71.97%).
But it hasn’t always been plain sailing. “The first couple of times I rode him at a show, I wasn’t overly impressed – he was quite challenging to get on,” Laura told H&H last month. “But the more we get to know him, the easier he is.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“For me, this is a really great milestone for him. There is lots more work to be done, obviously, but it is nice already at this stage to feel like it is all there.”
Launched in 2013, the Dressage Future Elite Championship brings together Britain’s leading eight- to 10-year-old horses in an inter I freestyle. Previous winners include championship medallists Hawtins Delicato, Mount St John Freestyle, Imhotep and, of course, Jagerbomb, who won the title in 2022.
“It is a brilliant way to prepare them because you don’t get many atmospheres like this at the lower level when they are a bit younger to prepare them for what is to come in the future,” Laura said.
“So it is a great way to give these horses an opportunity like that, and I absolutely couldn’t be happier with how he handled it all.”
Dressage Future Elite Championship, HOYS 2026 – full results
- Laura Tomlinson and Ostmarks Digal – 77.79%
- Gareth Hughes and Morricone III – 75.92%
- Dannie Morgan and Fever Tree – 73.58%
- Matt Frost and Lenika – 72.83%
- Michael George Eilberg and EDH Saubermond – 72.17%
- Alexander Harrison and Ventura – 71.79%
- Demi Howard-Cartwright and Newton Astro Nascente – 69.83%
- Jody Haswell and Valentinio – 68.21%
Judges: Nick Burton (H), Clive Halsall (C), Andrea Smith (M)
- To stay up to date with the latest news and reports throughout the Horse of the Year Show subscribe to the Horse & Hound website and enjoy our HOYS live news service throughout the show
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).