‘She’s completely in love’: former British grand prix star welcomes her first foal – six weeks late

Laura Tomlinson’s international dressage grand prix-winning mare Rose Of Bavaria has given birth to her first foal, a colt by Viva Gold.

The as-yet-unnamed foal arrived six weeks overdue and has inherited his dam’s famously long legs.

“He’s very leggy,” Laura said. “He was six weeks late, so we were all getting a bit antsy about it.

“He still looks like Bambi on ice. But he’s very sweet, very friendly and very cute.”

The birth marks an exciting new chapter for 15-year-old Rose Of Bavaria (Bordeaux x Florestan I) – affectionately known at home as Betty – who retired from top-level sport last summer.

Bred in Bavaria by Rainer and Heidi Heuschmann, Rose Of Bavaria first competed at small tour level in Germany under Rudolf Widmann. She joined the Bechtolsheimer stable in 2018 and quickly became one of Laura Tomlinson’s most promising rides.

The pair achieved consistent results on the international grand prix circuit. A break in 2021 and 2022 followed Laura’s maternity leave and Betty’s recovery from joint surgery. They returned to action in 2023, picking up placings internationally and helping Britain to a Nations Cup team podium at Aachen.

Laura said that, so far, Betty is loving her new role. “She was a bit squeaky at first with the whole breastfeeding situation – I felt her pain – but now she’s completely in love with him,” she said. “She’s very protective and very in love.”

Although the colt was late, his timing could not have been better. Days later, his sire Viva Gold (For Romance x Don Schufro), made a winning debut under Isabell Werth, taking the Louisdor Prize in Hamburg-Klein Flottbek on 76.81%. Isabell also rode Viva Gold’s granddam, the legendary Weihegold OLD.

Laura added that she has high hopes for the new arrival, who joins an impressive line-up of home-breds. These include nine-year-old Full Moon II (Furstenball x Gribaldi), who posted two 70%+ scores at Aachen CDI3* last month, and Forest Hill (Furstenlook x United), winner of the HOYS Dressage Future Elite Championship in October.

Among the younger stars is Thomas Ticino (Total Hope x Carpaccio), who recently won both the national and international five-year-old qualifiers at Addington Premier League with Sarah Rogers in the saddle.

Laura said another of her former grand prix stars, Rosalie B, who retired in 2022, recently produced a foal too – a filly by Furstenlook who arrived before Betty’s although she was due after. “Next to Betty’s new foal, that filly looks like a monster!” Laura joked.

“But given how long Betty’s legs are, I think once he fills out a bit, he’ll catch up. We always seem to breed massive horses – there must be something in the water at my mum’s that makes them all elephant-sized!”

Laura sees Betty and Rosie (Rosa Bavaria) as the next wave in her breeding programme.

“This is a bit of a new generation for us in terms of mother lines,” she said. “The mothers of the home-breds I’m competing now are all getting older, so it’s exciting to start with Betty and Rosie as the foundation for what comes next.”

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