Laura Tomlinson has said a heartbroken farewell to her Olympic gold and bronze medallist Mistral Højris and international grand prix winner Andretti H after a long and happy retirement.
Laura’s two former top rides, who had been inseparable for years, went peacefully together on 22 March, both aged 30.
“I spent quite a bit of time with them on Saturday and then was with them both, right to the end,” Laura told H&H. “Rationally, it couldn’t have been better for them, but it was a very tough weekend.”
Laura and Mistral Højris made history for Britain, and helped change the trajectory of dressage in this country. They won four championship team medals and five individual medals, including the team gold, with Carl Hester and Uthopia and Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, and individual bronze in front of a home crowd at the 2012 Olympics.
Their phenomenal success was the result of years of dedication; “Alf” was unpredictable at the start as despite his talent, he suffered from stage fright. Laura previously told H&H people initially thought he was dangerous as he would be frightened and bolt. But Laura worked through his issues until he could show the world how good he was.
Those were the days when, as Laura put it, “Brits got lower marks as they assumed if you were British, you were mediocre at best”. But Laura and Alf started to make their mark. In 2009, they won team silver and individual bronze at the home Europeans, scoring the highest mark a British rider had ever achieved in an international grand prix. The following year, they won a hat-trick of silver medals at the World Equestrian Games (WEG), briefly setting a world record of 82.15% before Edward Gal and Totilas just pipped them.
Alf’s phenomenal performance at London 2012 was his last championship; he retired the following year aged 18, after two more CDI4* wins in Hagen.
“I said goodbye to our career a long time ago,” said Laura. “Now, I’m grieving Alf my buddy, not Alf my dressage horse. But he did so much for me, and for dressage.
“And for my dad and me, we were trying to show you that you could be at the top and ride the horse in a classical way as a happy athlete. He and a few others here were happy, healthy athletes who could retire at the top and have the wonderful retirement they deserved, and that’s exactly what they did deserve, after all they did for me.”
Laura added that London was a “phenomenal” highlight of her career with Alf, as was her WEG grand prix in 2010.
“He gave me so many great rides, so many times scoring over 80% when that wasn’t so common,” she said. “He was so consistent, even though he started inconsistent; I think the journey and struggle to get him to that made it even more special when he became what he did. I put my heart and soul into him; every competition, I’d have my books and revision outside his stable.”
Laura added that “Andy” was always slightly in Alf’s shadow.
“But he won a lot in his own right,” she said. “He’d have been on all the teams Alf was, if Alf hadn’t been my top horse; in London, he was there until after the trot-up, just in case. He was always the back-up but he won a lot of big classes and was a very special horse – and he did a lot of prizegivings as he did a lot of Alf’s too, so he thought he was the out-and-out champion!”
Alf and Andy together in retirement
Laura said both horses, who were pampered throughout retirement, coming in at night and turned out together all day, were huge characters.
“They couldn’t be apart but still bickered like an old married couple,” she said. “They both wanted to be centre of attention and right to the end were the same characters as they were when they were on the lorry together and fighting over haynets.
“There was a big part of my life with my dad intertwined with them; it’s been an emotional rollercoaster but I’m just glad I was able to be with them, and they were their usual cheeky, cuddly selves to the end.”
‘A powerhouse of dressage’
Carl Hester told H&H he remembers Alf as “one of the original powerhouses of dressage”.
“Having been a slightly wayward young horse, he became a superstar medallist for our team,” he said. “He was one of the ‘big three’; it’s hard to believe we had him, Uthopia and Valegro on the same team, and I think them winning that gold medal in London is what everyone will remember. His final centre lines were just legendary, with his energy and enthusiasm; he didn’t seem to touch the floor. It was great to see that partnership grow and develop into what it did.
“He just loved his job and it was a pleasure to be on a team with him. He became so reliable, you knew if he was on the team, he’d get a good score and the rest of you could relax and enjoy it. That big three; they came together and made history.”
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