New Year motivation

LAURA

 TOMLINSON

OLYMPIC DRESSAGE RIDER

IN THE SADDLE: “My horses all have 10 easy days while I’m away over Christmas and New Year. I lower the high-energy side of their food over that time but they’ll still be exercised, whether it’s on the lunge or hacked out, to give them a leg stretch. But it will be a mental and physical break from hard work.

“Obviously when I come back, I won’t expect to go through the grand prix on the first day with them. Some take me a little bit longer to get supple again, and others cope really well.

“In the winter, the routine would generally be that the horses work five days a week in the school in the morning — sometimes it is focused on movement, and some days it is more gymnastic-type work over the back. On top of that, we vary what we do in the afternoons with them. So, one day they’ll do polework, one day