Toledo De Kerser

Tom McEwen’s world team gold medallist was picked by William and Pippa Funnell to feature in this week’s magazine. Pippa Roome meets him

- Pippa Roome

H&H GUEST EDITOR PIPPA FUNNELL

“I LOVE Toledo’s type. He’s a good size – not too big or small – and covers the ground and has loads of scope. He reminds me of some of the cracking sorts Karen Dixon used to ride.

“Toledo has fabulous movement and the wow-factor for dressage. He’s bold and can gallop – he has a huge, impressive engine. His showjumping record speaks for itself; he looks like he could do the pure showjumper job.

“I’m well aware from talking to Tom that Toledo’s not as straightforward as Tom makes him look. It’s all about climbing into a horse’s mind and understanding how it thinks. Tom does a fantastic job at finding a way of bringing out the horse’s serious ability.

“It was really unfortunate for Tom that I took his place at the 2019 Europeans after Toledo suffered a minor injury. I was convinced they would land an individual medal. It must have been bittersweet that they went on and won Pau, where the horse looked class.”

GROOM FRANCESCA GORNI