Tomlinson and Eilberg Take First Titles at 2026 British Dressage Championships

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2026 British Dressage Championships - Somerford (GBR) - 10 - 13 September 2026

Laura Tomlinson and Michael Eilberg took the first titles in the small and big tour one the first day of competition at the 2026 British Dressage Championships at Somerford Park on 10 September 2026.

In Great Britain titles are given to the winners of the individual classes, but also "supreme champions" are calculated over several rounds. Tomlinson and Eilberg are off to a good start.

Prix St Georges and Inter I: Laura Tomlinson & Ostmarks Digal

Rounding out day one in style, Laura Tomlinson and her own and Ursula Bechtolsheimer’s Ostmarks Digal (by Grand Galaxy Win x De Noir) enjoyed our final prize giving of the day after winning the Prix St Georges. The pair went into the lead early in the class and staying at the stop spot with a score of 71.794%.

Reflecting on their journey to this point, Laura shared, “I was really pleased with him. He hasn’t competed since Hartpury [Premier League], so it has been a little while. But I’ve had lots of time over the summer to do plenty of homework with him and consolidate things I wanted to work on, and he feels like he’s built a lot of strength. I’ve had him since last December, so you know he’s still shaping the way I want him to be shaped and how I want him to look. So, I felt like that had that you know that had come to fruition while over the last couple of months, even though I hadn't been competing.”

Speaking on their winning test, “He felt amazing in the trot work, and really good in the walk. We picked up canter and the first half pass and change felt a bit like he could start to spice up, but he then very quickly came back to me; I just collected him a little bit and went forwards a bit, and then he was with me, and really felt like he made a good decision and put really good effort in for the rest of the test. Prix St Georges isn't his goal in life, so for me it was I was feeling all the right things I want to feel for later.”

Laura and Ostmarks Digal also won the Intermediate I the next day (71.971, which they have only competed once at this level before, “I've only done one with him at Hartpury, and so that's a much more finicky, wobbly test, especially for such a big young horse. I'll really have to be ahead of the game with him and really support him on the center lines and things to try and help keep his balance in that big trot. But, it's all it's all in there, and I'm just delighted to have him, you know, to produce for the future.”

Talking about how the 17.1hh gelding trains at home, Laura commented, “It varies a lot. He feels much bigger. He's eight, but because he's so tall, he still feels quite babyish. So you'll have a week where I think ‘oh, I've really got him’ and we're making huge progress, and then I'll have a week where I'm like, I can't ride a medium on him. I feel like everything, with the acceleration, the steering, everything seems to be cross-wired, and now I'm used to that. I don't get panicked by it so much. I know what exercises to do to help him out of that. So, our dead time of training is much less now because I keep getting to know him more and more, and he starts to trust me more and more because he's definitely got a quirky side, and you know he likes to he likes to know and trust you before you can push the buttons too much.”

Joining Laura in the prize giving for the Prix St Georges in second place was Matt Frost riding Keeva Dedicoat’s Lenika (Foreign Affair x Lord Sinclair), with a score of 70.529% and in third was Gareth Hughes and Flamboyant Dressage Stud’s Morricone III (Millennium x Rubin Royal OLD), scoring 70.206%.

In the Intermediaire I the runnr up was Hughes on Morricone III with 70.618%, while Amy Woodhead placed third on Emma Blundell's hpme bred MSJ Viva Donnebrog with 70.559%

Intermediaire II: Michael Eilberg and MSJ Dante

Michael Eilberg and his won and Nicky Hallam’s MSJ Dante VX (by Dante Weltino x Quattro B), bred by Emma Blundell, performed a classy test on day one of the championships, to win the Stubben Intermediate II Gold Championship with a great score of 72.559%.

Delighted with their test, Michael spoke to us through how the 13-year-old gelding went into the arena, “I am absolutely chuffed with him really, really solid test everything came off, there was the tiniest little wobble in the one times, but other than that it was really good. He did the real nice highs and lows of the test, showing the relaxation and then the expression in the fancy stuff, so there was really nice balance in there today.”

Michael is enjoying the championships again this year, with a bit of a calmer schedule over the four days, “We had a bit of a mess up with the entries this year, where I thought some horses were going to go and then they didn’t end up going, so I actually have a bit of an easier time here this time. Today was the busiest day, kids are coming up on the weekend, so we are just going to have a nice time and enjoy it. We have lots of horses in the mix and he is really solid at this level, he is a joy to ride.”

Having co-owned Dante from a foal, the two of them have built a brilliant partnership, “We have had him from a foal, he has always been such a sensitive horse, he is enormous, but he is a wuss really, sometimes I just say to him ‘man up Dante, come on!’ I have a real bond with him and a real connection to him, he is really special to me.”

This marks another memorable moment at Nationals for Michael, “It was really nice that he could win this class for me, as this is the class that I haven’t been able to win at the Nationals yet, that eluding me and then winning it on such a special horse, so that is also amazing.”

Tom Goode and Lady Caroline Rake’s Margot (by Morricone x Totilas- were our second-place finishers, with 70.765% and were followed closely behind by Ruby Hughes on Fenella Quinn’s Farrell (by Fabregas x Davignon) with a score of 70.441%.