‘He was phenomenal’: Tom McEwen takes an early lead at Badminton with personal best dressage score

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Badminton Horse Trials dressage: Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser
Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser compete in the dressage phase at Badminton
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Tom McEwen was the first of the British Tokyo Olympic team into the arena in the Badminton Horse Trials dressage, at the event presented by Mars Equestrian. Riding his gold medal-winning partner, 15-year-old Toledo De Kerser, he produced a personal best at this level to score 23.4 and take a commanding lead at this stage.

Local rider Tom said: “He was just phenomenal throughout, lovely half-passes, really smooth in his body and in a great rhythm. I can’t ask for any more. His changes could be more expressive, but they were mistake-free.”

Martha Terry
Martha Terry
Features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.