In this exclusive, subscriber-only interview, Tom McEwen explains how becoming an Olympian has (and has not) changed his life, reveals some of his up-and-coming equine stars to look out for, plus what he’s focusing on for next season and beyond...
Dual British eventing Olympian Tom McEwen reconsidered his answer when asked whether the Olympics – most recently his efforts in Paris, where he helped secure team gold with JL Dublin (Dubs), also finishing fourth individually – has changed life for him at all.
“Someone asked me this the other day and I said no, but I think it probably has,” explains the 33-year-old, who also won team gold and individual silver at the Tokyo Olympics aboard Toledo De Kerser. “It doesn’t change your life in a monetary way, although it can help with sponsorships, and in terms of the business I’m running day-to-day, it changes nothing really.
“But then in other ways, it does change your life because an Olympics increases the public awareness of our sport – you can’t quite believe how many people have paid attention and watched. Like going to the gym, people that aren’t horsey there now know what it’s about to a certain degree and that’s because the Olympics means something to everyone. They might not know how you get a dressage mark, or what the hell a time penalty is, but they understand the principle.”
Tom McEwen (centre) celebrates at the Paris Olympics on his lap of honour with his team mates Ros Canter (left) and Laura Collett (right). Credit: Peter Nixon
Tom adds that although new opportunities in the form of sponsorships and owners might arise off the back of an Olympic appearance, he feels a sense of wanting to give something back to equestrianism too.
“It provides us riders with the opportunity to give back to the sport, whether that might be teaching at Pony Club or helping at the RDA,” he explains.
Life after the Olympics
JL Dublin was in Adam Short’s capable hands receiving top-class care throughout the Paris Olympics. Credit: FEI/Benjamin Clark
Upon arriving back in the UK from Paris, “Dubs” wasn’t put in a field for a holiday immediately, as Tom explains.
“We started letting him down by hacking him out and slowly reduced that, rather than just immediately putting him out on a holiday while he was at peak fitness. He then did go on holiday and spent time in the field with Toledo.”
Tom says that he had a conversation with Dubs’ owners, James and Jo Lambert and Deirdre Johnston about plans for the rest of the season.
“Obviously Paris finished so early in the season that there was a conversation to be had about whether Dubs would compete again this year, but it was an easy decision to make in the end to let him have a holiday as he had such a busy first half of the year,” states Tom, referring to the fact that their route to Paris included a win in the CCI4*-S in Kronenberg in the Netherlands in March, second in the CCI5* in Kentucky, USA in April and second in the CCI4*-S in Luhmühlen, Germany in June.
Tom McEwen and JL Dublin had a busy 2024 spring season, including travelling to the UA for Kentucky five-star. Credit: Amy Dragoo
Tom McEwen’s equine stars of the future
Looking ahead, Tom has some other stars in his string that he says we should note for future reference. The first of these is Isa, a 10-year-old grey mare, who was imported from Germany at the start of this year.
“I really like Isa – she’s awesome and I think she really showed it at Blenheim,” says Tom, who finished seventh with this horse in the CCI4*-L at Blenheim in September. “She had done a lot of three-stars with a girl called Charlotte Whittaker, who lives in Germany, and James and Jo Lambert were looking for a horse to add to my string. It’s the first time I’ve looked for something a little older and I really struggled to find her – it took me an awfully long time and it’s also taken me a bit of time to get to know her as she’s very much a mare and always did whatever suited her and didn’t really care much for what I was asking her sometimes.
“We’re building a bond and she’s super-exciting. She will probably aim for the CCI4*-L at Bramham next season.”
Tom McEwen describes Isa, a 10-year-old mare who came over from Germany at the start of the season, as “awesome”. Credit Peter Nixon
As well as Isa, Tom has an arsenal of top-class seven-year-olds in his stable. The first of these is Shannondale Arnold, who, were it not for picking up eight faults in the final showjumping phase in the British Eventing seven-year-old championships at Cornbury in September, would have finished runner-up.
“Those two fences, both in the treble, were annoying, but he’s super-exciting; a very modern type and athletic through his body. His flatwork is forever improving too,” says Tom, whose next one to watch is fellow seven-year-old Maestro, with whom he won the British Eventing seven-year-old championship, and who is owned by Toledo’s owners Fred and Penny Barker.
“He’s a proper modern day sports horse – he’s quite blood but also quite small,” comments Tom. “He jumped at the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses at Lanaken with his previous owners River Lodge under Michelle Kenny and is very smart.”
Tom’s final one for us to watch is another seven-year-old called Quintus, who recently finished 11th in the seven-year-old World Championships at Le Lion D’Angers, and is owned by Deirdre Johnston and Jane Knight.
“He’s a huge, great big horse and a rangy mover,” comments Tom. “Everyone thinks he looks too big and rangy on the flat and then you watch him across country and he’s so light on his feet.”
Tom states that “all three of these seven-year-olds are incredibly exciting and each one brings something slightly different to the table”.
“It will be interesting to see how each of them progresses. Everyone told me when Toledo was a seven-year-old that he was too good a jumper and too careful and he’d never have enough blood to make it round a five-star, but look at the horse he turned into.”
Tom McEwen thanks Toledo De Kerser after the pair scored their first top-level victory, at Pau in 2019. Credit: Libby Law Photography
Speaking of Toledo, Tom says that the now 17-year-old with whom he won his first five-star at Pau in 2019 is doing well following his career-ending injury at Burghley in 2023.
“Toledo is unlikely to event again but he loves being active as he gets bored otherwise, so he will definitely do something, whether that’s Harriet [Tom’s wife] carrying on hacking him out or a little bit more – no decisions have been made yet, but he’s currently being brought back into work.”
Tom McEwen on his future plans
In terms of future plans, big event success is at the forefront of Tom’s mind – including a third Olympic Games.
“I very much want to get to LA [for the 2028 Olympics] and achieve results like the ones we managed in Tokyo and Paris. Obviously Paris was amazing, but I didn’t quite do the dressage test I know I can do – not every day is going to be spot on, but the rest of the competition was absolutely perfect for us individually, but it is what it is – you can whinge and whine about it, but it’s not going to make any difference.
“The test wasn’t down to me feeling the pressure, it was just one of those things that didn’t quite work out. So yes, getting back to LA is a big aim. For me it’s also always about the team first – I was obsessed with any team sports I could do while growing up – I just love the team environment.”
While British team success remains a huge motivation, individual five-star success is also high on Tom’s to-do list, as he says frankly: “I want to stop mucking up around British five-stars at some point soon!
“I want to win Badminton, Burghley and Kentucky – it’s easy to say and a thousand times harder to do. I feel like I’ve been getting myself in really good positions – Kentucky this year [where a fence down relegated Tom and JL Dublin from first to second] was just one of those things in that he jumped really well and one part just wasn’t good enough on my behalf. Sometimes things like that happen, but if you can put yourself in that place more often than not, at some point, it will start coming off.”
Tom McEwen and JL Dublin on the way to finishing second at Kentucky 2024. Credit: Amy Dragoo
But achieving major accolades on a horse isn’t the only thing Tom McEwen has in mind for the future.
“I’ve done a marathon and I was told I became really grumpy while training for it, so that part of my life is over!” he laughs. “Someone mentioned doing an Iron Man triathlon, and although I’m not a great swimmer, I thought it sounded like a cool challenge, but I think I better chill out with things like that as I can’t be moody and tired halfway through a season.
“I will definitely give myself more challenges to do though and Harriet and I are really happy to be welcoming our baby. In that respect, we’ve got new challenges ahead and I’ll try giving being a dad a go!”
What about Tom’s future within the sport of eventing further down the line?
“I really admire the people that hold down a job and go eventing too – people like Lauren [Innes], who goes around Badminton and Burghley, that’s super-impressive. Maybe later on in my riding career, I might go down different avenues and do different things. I don’t really know what yet – I’ve got things in mind – but eventing and riding is a hard world and I want to be open-minded about it.
“You have to be very single-minded while you’re a competitive athlete. I’d quite like to go showjumping later on in life or in a few years’ time, but at the moment, my main and sole aim is eventing and trying to nail out a few better results.”
You may also be interested in:
*Exclusive* ‘I start them at five, they all hack and we jump more in the winter’: Tom McEwen’s training ethos for young horses
*Exclusive* ‘I wouldn’t change anything about Paris, apart from the rain – that was a bit s**t!’: Tom McEwen on 2024 Olympics
*Exclusive* ‘We make a lot of sacrifices’: Lottie Fry on what it takes to achieve such success before turning 30, plus what’s next
*Exclusive* ‘If I couldn’t compete it wouldn’t bother me’: Olympian Abi Lyle’s training mantras, including why praise, variety and turnout are key
*Exclusive* ‘Everything he does we started as a game’: how an Olympic dressage rider honed her project horse for the world stage
