‘Everything I’d want to feel in a future superstar’: meet Laura Tomlinson’s exciting new ride
Laura Tomlinson has swept two titles at the National Dressage Championships on eight-year-old Ostmarks Digal – and she’s not the only one convinced he’s one to watch
Laura Tomlinson won two titles at the 2026 LeMieux National Dressage Championships this week – the Fairfax Saddles PSG gold and the D&H gold inter I – on her latest star, Ostmarks Digal (Grand Galaxy x De Noir), an eight-year-old gelding who’s arrived on the domestic scene in some style.
Digal has been with Laura since December, coming over from the same German yard as her former top ride, Rose of Bavaria, who retired in 2024. “The first couple of times I rode him at a show, I wasn’t overly impressed – he was quite challenging to get on,” Laura admits.
“He was a bit fidgety here, too. But the more we get to know him, the easier he is – he’s known at home as Smeagol sometimes when he’s being naughty. But he knows his job, and he enjoys it.”
She rates Digal as more talented than her two current grand prix horses, Full Moon and Forest Hill, albeit in different ways: “Full Moon’s got incredible suppleness I haven’t felt on many horses, but he’s got a bit of an ADHD brain that struggles to focus the whole time, whereas Digal and Forest find it easier to focus long enough for a good test.
“Digal’s not as naturally supple as Full Moon, and he’s so tall and leggy that he brings a lot of exuberance – I need to make sure the athleticism is there to match it.”
At home, the foundations for grand prix work are being laid: “He’s got pretty good changes at home, hasn’t done 15 ones yet, but he’s well on his way.
“We’re plugging away at his confidence in the piaffe-passage – the pieces of the puzzle are already there; it’s just starting to put them together now.”
Digal opened his account at Somerford Park with victory in the Fairfax Saddles PSG gold on Thursday, scoring 71.79%. “There was a moment in the first half-pass where he could have gone either way, felt like he could get a little spicy, but he came back very good, made a very grown-up decision and stayed with me,” Laura said. He followed up with the D&H gold inter I on Friday, improving to 71.97%.
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“I do have high hopes for him,” Laura added. “I think he’s very talented. The more advanced movements, the more confident he is in the ring with me, the more will come.
“I think he’ll be a horse that takes a moment to feel comfortable doing it all in the ring, but when he does, I think he’ll do everything without a problem.”
Along with Forest Hill and Full Moon II – who was longlisted for the World Championships in Aachen this summer – Laura looks to have a talented up-and-coming string.
But she revealed that former grand prix ride Soegaards Bon Royal – who stood out at the London International Horse Show in 2024 but hasn’t competed since – has retired aged 12 after failing to recover from an old check ligament injury: “He won’t be coming back to competition, really. I was hoping Tyla Schou, who’s based with me, could have a couple of little national shows on him to get a feel for that level, but his scans just don’t hold up to the work, sadly.
“He’s very happy in the stable, very happy in the field, but we’re not going to be able to compete him again. His welfare is absolutely the most important part."
Sven Rothenberger, judging at the nationals for the first time, picked Digal out unprompted when asked which horses had caught his eye this week. “I have to say the horse of Laura Tomlinson seems to be a talent to take the weight and make the difficult movements later,” he said.
“I had the feeling that after every extended movement, she was able to do a very collected movement too – that showed me the horse really took the weight onto the hind legs, with the shoulders coming up, so it always had an uphill tendency.”
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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).