Tom Jackson chose a big stage to score a personal best with Capels Hollow Drift on his British squad debut at the European Eventing Championships dressage in Haras du Pin, France. Tom, riding individually for Britain, scored 25.7, his best score at four-star by 1.7 penalties.
Capels Hollow Drift’s grey coat looked drenched from the rain but the weather barely seemed to affect him as he performed a calm yet expressive test, ears pricked and listening to Tom’s quiet aids. Tom’s neat ride on this 12-year-old gelding painted an elegant picture from the word go. They scored a nine for their entry from the M judge Seppo Laine, and a plethora of eights throughout the test.
Watch Tom speak after his test in the video below
“I’m happy to get that done and dusted and for him to be as good as he was – it’s a testament to all the training we’ve done with World Class,” said Tom. “Hopefully Pippa [Funnell, his trainer] will be happy as she’s always on about the little details. His good change was very good and his bad one is a work in progress, but his half-passes and expression in trot were all up to gear.”
Their score could have been even higher had “Walshy” not spotted something at the A end of the arena. Although his first flying change was excellent, he rather bounded into the second one to score fives. When he came round to that end again for the final line, Tom had to ride very tactfully to get Walshy’s concentration back, and finished well for more eights.
“I found out today that he’s not a massive fan of umbrellas, which is really unlike him because normally he’s super laid-back,” said Tom, 30.
“I feel like I’ve always been on a trajectory to get to a championship but it’s taken us a bit longer than I wanted when I was an 18-year-old and that makes it even more special.”
Tom is looking forward to tackling the cross-country track.
“I’m excited as I think it will really suit him and his way of going,” he said. “The ground will be a big factor, but it’s given me confidence knowing he dealt with that at Badminton.”
European Eventing Championships dressage: day two
Britain’s other individual rider, Tom McEwen, had already highlighted the squad’s strength in depth when he took the lead on Friday morning on JL Dublin on 22. Laura Collett pushed him close with her mark of 22.4 on London 52, just ahead of her team-mate Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir on 23.4. British riders hold the first four places at this stage, before the final dressage session on Friday afternoon (11 August).
Germany had also posted a super individual score with Jerome Robine and Black Ice earning 26 for fourth at this stage – the best from his country but also not counting for the team score. Their second individual rider, Nicolas Aldinger riding his grey gelding Timmo, made an impressive entrance under sodden skies to garner eights, but couldn’t maintain that form, especially after anticipating the collected canter, and wound up on 32.9.
End of day update: Tom Jackson now holds sixth place. Full results here.
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