‘It’s been a few weeks and I’ve been licking my wounds,’ admits Laura Tomlinson after the nationals

It has been a few weeks since the LeMieux National Dressage Championships at Somerford Park but I am still licking my wounds! Having had the most incredible start with a win in the prix st georges and inter I, I hit the ground with a serious bump in the grand prix when my high hopes were drowned in the deluge.

Warming up Full Moon II (Moony), I wasn’t too worried as we have all dealt with riding in English downpours. The unexpected aspect was that as I was trotting around the arena before starting, the spectators from the uncovered stands rushed to the covered stands and the judges flicked their headlights and wipers on.

This was game over for Moony. He went backwards more than forwards and spent most of the test trying to convince me that we should run, while I tried to convince him that we needed to stay and finish the job. We had our lowest score ever and I went home early a little perplexed at how the week had turned.

Forest Hill had an OK test, but is new to this level. Although he had qualified for the freestyle, I had nothing prepared. I had never imagined that Moony wouldn’t qualify and you are only allowed to ride one in the freestyle.

My family were delighted that I was back early, armed with a lesson on the ups and downs with horses. I spent Sunday watching my youngest two children showjumping in the rain, winning more rosettes than me.

I had, however, left Somerford feeling excited, too. It is always a privilege to compete at such a well-organised show with fantastic sponsors. My upcoming eight-year-old, Ostmarks Digal (pictured top), had also made me smile, after his two wins. He will compete at Horse of the Year Show in the future elite class, his first ever freestyle [which he won].

In the meantime, Moony and I are regaining confidence and ironing out blips at local shows, as I am convinced that the outside circumstances would not have been so catastrophic for Digal or Forest, who are both less dramatic.

Let’s use the full range of marks

The evening celebrating the life of the late Stephen Clarke was emotional and yet lovely. Much was made of his influence on judging and his move for starting at 10 and dropping down according to what you see, rather than starting at a six or seven.

His book, Dressage Dreams 10, was fabulous and sadly a lot of what he pushed for has been lost in the past few years. Scores feel stuck on the average marks again.

Unless you are such a household name that receiving an eight or more seems a sure thing, it feels like the judges have been bullied out of risking really high marks. It may be that, with so much social media criticism and the fear of getting it wrong when everything is online for immediate scrutiny, it is difficult to stick one’s neck out.

Unlike judges, keyboard warriors have the beauty of hindsight and can play back videos. Sometimes the judge that is out of line with the others is the one in the right, but was the only one that dared to err away from the six to 7.5 buttons.

I felt that if my mistake-free test on a nice horse is only just scraping the lower end of the 70s, it must be depressing for many others, who also had good tests but were shy of 70%. We need to take a leaf out of Stephen’s book, because we have lots of strong combinations, so how can so few tests then be getting good scores?

I would love to go back to fives and less for real mistakes but eight or more for deserving brilliance.

I felt the comments on my sheets were constructive and positive, but higher marks to match would be lovely for riders, owners and supporters, and so that when other nations look at our results, we are not selling ourselves short.

● What outside circumstances have derailed your competition performance? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

• For more exclusive insights and analysis from top names in the equestrian world, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website