Tom McEwen, the first rider for the British team to complete their Olympic eventing dressage test at the Paris Games, impressed the judges to score 25.8 and go into the lead this morning (27 July).
Riding James and Jo Lambert and Deirdre Johnston’s JL Dublin, Tom rode a virtually fault-free test, which was peppered with scores mostly ranging between 7 and 8.5.
“‘Dubs’ was awesome and amazing – he loves an atmosphere,” explained Tom of the 13-year-old.
The ground jury of Xavier Le Sauce (FRA) at E, Christina Klingspor (SWE) at C and Robert Stevenson (USA) at M particularly enjoyed JL Dublin’s extended walk, while the judge at M awarded a 10 for the mid-test halt.
The only place where Tom and JL Dublin dropped significant marks was for the first flying-change, where the gelding became a little tense, which resulted in fours across the board from the judges.
“He really lit up in the trot – a little bit more than I was expecting, and then was actually super-relaxed in the walk, which then caught me out for the first change,” said Tom. “I was expecting maybe to have a little bit more electricity underneath me when I picked up the canter, but actually he was like Dubs always is – very relaxed and very happy – so we sadly missed that first change.
“But then after that, we picked right back up where we left off and hopefully we’ve put Great Britain in a great, strong starting position, which is our main goal. My aim now is to support my teammates and finish on that score.”
The Olympic eventing dressage test is a condensed version of what we would normally expect, with movements coming up very quickly throughout.
“This test is so different to a normal test – it’s intense,” stated Tom. “Dubs has got a fantastic walk, but you’ve only got a split second to show it off before it’s gone in this test.”
JL Dublin is a former ride of Nicola Wilson, with whom he became European champion in 2021.
“It’s taken me a good, strong year to get to know a very nice, relaxed, easy individual, and actually sort of make him a bit more mine,” explained Tom of what it has been like taking over the ride from Nicola following her fall.
Speaking of what it is like to come into these Olympics as a member of the British team, who are favourites to take team gold, Tom said “it comes with a different but fun pressure”.
“We know we’re probably one of the strongest teams here and it’s obviously a positive pressure knowing that we’re a great team.”
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