‘Hunting has given me a no-nonsense approach’: the amateur and trail-hunting fanatic taking on his first Badminton on a cheap ex-racehorse
From a lifelong passion for hunting to an unconventional return to eventing, the Badminton first-timer reflects on the lessons that have shaped him, his unexpected ambitions – and the cheap retrained racehorse now thriving at five-star, in this exclusive interview for H&H subscribers
“I’m not sure I should really be referred to as an event rider,” says Mars Badminton Horse Trials first-timer Tom Strawson, as he names two ambitions in life as hunting a pack of hounds and winning the Melton Hunt Club Ride.
It’s an unusual statement for a Badminton first-timer to make, but then Tom is an unusual debutant for this week’s spring five-star (6-10 March), where he’ll start on Public Address (Brian), with whom he was 21st at Burghley Horse Trials last year.
At 37, Tom has been point-to-pointing’s Midlands Area champion jockey three times, works full-time in property and won the Harborough Ride this spring. Eventing is not the only, or even the thickest, string to his bow.
“Hunting is my major love in life,” says Tom. “It’s been huge in terms of educating me as a jockey and it’s also massive in terms of educating horses.
Badminton final scores
“I think a lot of people don’t actually realise the benefit of taking younger horses hunting in making them brave, travelling through any going and teaching them to settle in a busy environment. It’s something I really value.
“And to win the Melton is on my bucket list. I had an epic battle with my hunting mate Rowan Cope in the Harborough and no doubt we’ll renew that in the Melton in the autumn.
“About three years ago out hunting with the Quorn when I was riding Brian, Rowan and I had a £1,000 bet I could get him round Burghley… I’m looking forward to the day he coughs up!”
Before the Melton, there’s the little matter of this five-star in Gloucestershire.
Horses have always been in Tom’s family. His father Paul evented and then point-to-pointed, his grandfather Michael was a young rider selector and Tom is the third generation of his family to be in the Brocklesby mastership.
His “Auntie Ginny” (Rose, née Strawson) was young rider European champion in 1982 on Minsmore and fifth at Burghley in 1981 on Greek Herb, before giving up eventing in her early 20s when she got married.
Tom did some pony eventing, then had a junior horse “who we didn’t get on particularly well with”, giving up when he went to university.
He says: “I’ve always been competitive and wanted to try to do something, so I had a go at point-to-pointing when I was 18. It worked better than eventing around university and work, because it happened around the hunting season and we could get the horses fit hunting.
“It was a slow start. It took me 14 rides and five seasons to get around a point-to-point, partly because six of the first seven horses I rode were first-time-out maidens! But then I had a fun six seasons and I rode 47 winners pointing and three in hunter chases.
“I’d probably be doing that now if I wasn’t the size I am. I’m nearly 6ft 2in and quite heavy-boned. Eventually, you get to the stage where you’re sick of sweating and dieting. So I gave up just after I turned 31.”
Tom was buying and selling a few horses and “I went out with a top girl [Katie Bleloch] who evented to a high level and I wasn’t going to just follow her around”, so he started eventing again. He competed an ex-point-to-pointer called Captain Bizarro to three-star, before the horse suffered a career-ending injury. Then Public Address came into his life through Irish hunting friend Aubrey Chapman.
“I always said to him that if he found a thoroughbred who could jump, to give me a ring,” he says. “Aubrey called one day and said, ‘I’ve got a thoroughbred who’s quite small, but he looks to have a good temperament and can jump. He’s actually been sent here to the hunt kennels to be put down.’
“So he sent a video and pictures. Although he was a bit small, a bit short of bone, I quite liked what I saw. So I took a trip across to Ireland to buy a very cheap horse.”
And so Tom Strawson paid less than £2,000 for the horse who would one day take him to the two British five-star events, Badminton and Burghley.
Tom says Brian has “an unbelievable temperament”, as shown by the fact that Ginny, his girlfriend Philippa Atkinson and friends hunt him.
“He’s an absolute donkey and that’s probably why we get on well, because he’s an out-and-out trier,” says Tom. “I was always taught that you’d rather have a horse with less ability that you get everything out of, than a horse with more ability that you don’t get everything out of, and he gives you 110% every time.
“He has a proper conscience and does not want to hit fences. He’s got one of the best actions with his front legs over a fence I’ve sat on – he brings his forearm up above his shoulder. I feel safe cantering downhill to the biggest fences on him, because his technique is superb and he’s so quick in front.”
From his background in hunting and point-to-pointing, Tom has learnt to sit slightly behind the motion, with a longer rein and his feet slightly further forward.
“Over the past couple of years, I’ve got to know Chris Bartle and had a lesson or two with him. He’s from a racing background and very much endorses that style of riding, so that’s something that I’ve brought into my cross-country riding,” says Tom.
Although he overfolds in his body – “we joke that it must be hereditary, as my Auntie Ginny did exactly the same” – being behind the motion means he’s fairly secure and doesn’t fall off much.
“And the hunting has given me a no-nonsense approach,” he adds. “I’ve ridden a lot of naughty horses and worked out how to settle them, stay on and get the best out of them. I think a lot of event riders are overthinkers, while I try to make things simple. At the end of the day, we’re just jumping a round of jumps, aren’t we?”
Tom and Brian progressed up the levels until, last year, they found themselves at Burghley.
“As a kid growing up, Burghley was everything,” he says. “We’re from Lincolnshire and we used to take a caravan and go with Mum and family friends. So I always fancied a spin around Burghley, but then I went point-to-pointing and that dream went because I never thought I’d end up back eventing again.
“I had a lesson three or four years ago with the late Caroline Moore and she said, ‘Tom, I think you could be my Burghley challenge project.’ I thought, ‘If you say that, then maybe we could have a go.’”
Having so many friends and family there made Burghley extra special: “To ride in front of a crowd like that was phenomenal,” says Tom. “I’ve ridden around Cheltenham and that was pretty good, but Burghley on cross-country day would be probably the best experience I’ve had on a horse.”
The pair finished the cross-country clear, with a respectable 25.6 time-faults, which combined with a 39.8 dressage and 16.8 showjumping penalties to give them 21st place.
Tom Strawson: Badminton aims
Tom Strawson has only been to Badminton Horse Trials once and he starts with the aim of improving on Burghley, having fun and feeling he’s got the best from his horse. Ginny and Philippa will be his chief support team, plus mother Jo and Strawson grandparents Michael and Pynnie are likely to be in attendance.
He hopes to jump clear across country and has reason to believe he can up his performance in the other phases.
Dressage, he admits, has been like “Tweedledum leading Tweedledee” and, physically, Brian struggles.
“He’s not the strongest behind the saddle and he doesn’t have the best mouth,” Tom says. “We’ve had to learn quite quickly together and we had an off-day at Thoresby this spring, but he was in the top group on his open intermediate runs.”
He credits Amy Woodhead for her help and the fact he gave the horse to Ginny for two or three months over the winter, for a bit of schooling and some hunting. They’ve made some tweaks to the horse’s management, too.
Philippa – a fitness and nutrition fanatic who worked for Tim Easterby in Flat racing – has encouraged him to feed linseed and soya oil and Brian’s coat and condition have improved.
“Being a thoroughbred, he’s slightly flat-footed and was getting a bit of pain in his feet, particularly on harder ground. So we’re shoeing him with spider pads with some cushioning behind, to try to take the pressure off the bottom of his feet,” explains Tom, who believes this will help in the dressage and showjumping.
“We are galloping him less, but going further when we do, and lungeing him more. He’s a little horse and sometimes less is more – I spend my life on a diet and am always mindful that I don’t want to spend too long on his back.
“The horse is stronger and fitter in himself and has had a better preparation than for Burghley. I’ve got to get him there as well and as fresh as possible.”
The pair will certainly have the best advice for their final tune-up before Badminton, with a trip planned to double Badminton champion Ros Canter, just four miles down the road.
Having sold his four-star horse, The Fieldmaster, for Tom McEwen to ride – “a commercial decision, although having another advanced horse would certainly help my Badminton prep” – Tom has three horses of his own. His hunter, ex-racehorse Traffic Fluide (who won a Grade Two and collected more than £213,000 on the track) and fellow ex-racehorse Cheddleton, on whom he won the Harborough Ride in March, join Brian in his converted cattle shed.
His stable also houses a horse that belongs to his part-time groom, Robyn Lawrie. He also has help from “local super-groom” Cheryl Hough one day a week.
“We have a farm in the family that I moved to three years ago and I’m setting up camp there,” he remarks. “We have split the farming up at home, so around the time of Burghley, I started farming the land near Louth, in Lincolnshire, where I live. I’m a chartered surveyor and have had 12 years working for myself running various property projects.”
How does he fit everything in?
“Get up early and work hard. And keep going,” he grins, elaborating that generally he rides one or two horses at first light and aims to have a couple of days a week when he doesn’t ride if he needs to be somewhere early. “And then Robyn and Cheryl do a good job helping me.”
It’s the no-nonsense, common-sense approach in action and it’s served Tom Strawson well so far – onwards to Badminton Horse Trials.
How to watch and listen to Badminton Horse Trials
To watch Badminton Horse Trials live or via catch up, including the trot-ups, from the comfort of your home anywhere in the world, you need a 2026 Badminton TV Pass. Badminton TV is once again powered by ClipMyHorse.TV, but you do not need a full ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to watch – you can just subscribe to Badminton TV for £22.99. Go to badminton-horse.tv to sign up. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription. Also check out the Badminton app, which provides free live results and much more this year. Sign up for Badminton Plus membership for £4.99 to access the live Radio Badminton broadcast and receive exclusive offers from on-site exhibitors. Search for Badminton Horse Trials in your app store.
Enjoy the best of Badminton with Horse & Hound
To ensure you keep up to date with all the breaking news, behind the scenes insight, and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limits on how much you can read, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now. And don’t miss our bumper 28-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from top names, in the issue of Horse & Hound dated 14 May.
You may also be interested in:
How to watch Badminton Horse Trials live from anywhere in the world
Horse & Hound’s exclusive Badminton 2026 form guide, featuring every horse and rider
Three more last-minute withdrawals as competitors start to arrive at Badminton
‘Great disappointment’ as top contender withdrawn from this week’s Badminton Horse Trials
Check out this sneak peek of William Fox-Pitt walking the 2026 Badminton cross-country course
‘I thought I’d lost my mojo’: five-star event rider Simon Grieve on bouncing back to the top tier of the sport
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.