Former Badminton champions dazzle at Luhmühlen after anxious moment in warm-up: ‘It’s a fine line and we got it right today’
Laura Collett and London 52 lead the dressage at Luhmühlen Horse Trials.
(Image credit: Libby Law Photography)
Laura Collett and London 52 delivered a showstopping test to take their place at the top of the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials dressage results.
The 2022 Badminton champions are so consistent in their ability to produce wow-factor performances time and again. London 52 rose to the atmosphere, with Laura’s ringcraft ensuring they squeezed every possible mark to head into the cross-country on a score of 20.3.
The 14-year-old gelding’s scoresheet was littered with eights and nines, with the pair earning two 10s for their halts, and cheers from the crowd at the end of their test.
“I was having a whale of a time in there, because he was just so with me and you can just really show him off now. He went through a phase of being very fragile and now he just loves it,” said Laura, who trains with Ian Woodhead and Carl Hester.
“They’ve both been super helpful. I was sending Ian videos yesterday, because he’s gutted he’s not here.
“We’ve got a system with him now; it’s quite difficult to stick to sometimes as like the last couple of days he’s been really fresh and over excited about being here.
“He came out this morning, did some poles and felt really good. It’s just a case of being brave enough to stick to what we know now with him.”
Their polished test gave no hint at the last-minute wobble in the warm-up.
“He started off in the big arena and felt really nice, really relaxed. Then we went over to the final warm-up arena and I totally lost him,” said Laura.
“He hasn’t done that to me for a long time and I was getting a little bit nervous because he just tensed up and I totally lost the connection. They said, ‘you’ve got three minutes’, he took a deep breath and Dickie Waygood said, ‘don’t panic!’
“He kind of needs to be on edge. It’s a fine line and we got it right today.”
It was a special moment too for London 52’s breeder, Ocke Riewerts, who travelled to Luhmühlen Horse Trials from the tiny island of Föhr to see the horse he bred in the flesh for the first time in 14 years. That beautiful leggy foal, who he was initially worried was slightly on the small side, is now an Olympic team gold medallist with two five-star titles to his name.
“It’s amazing that he’s here, I said to him, ‘where’s the next one?’,” said Laura, who owns “Dan” with Keith Scott and Karen Bartlett.
You might also be interested in:
‘The golden rule is to keep having fun’: Pippa Funnell continues Bramham momentum to scoop Luhmühlen lead
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
‘I hope the sat-nav works!’: Laura Collett, Boyd Martin and others on Luhmühlen’s twisty new-look cross-country course
How to watch Luhmühlen Horse Trials 2026 live from anywhere in the world
Fairytale woodland, accuracy questions and beefy water complexes: take a peek at Luhmühlen’s five-star cross-country course
TOPICS
