Laura Tomlinson has been denied a shot at helping Britain defend their European dressage team title after her Olympic gold medal winning horse Mistral Hojris was ruled out with injury.
Tomlinson, neé Bechtolsheimer, joined forces with Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin on the way to the London 2012 dressage team title last summer aboard Mistral Hojris.
She also won individual dressage bronze with Mistral Hojris at the Olympics little less than a year after her two-medal return at the European Championships in Rotterdam.
Tomlinson, along with Hester, Dujardin and Emile Faurie officially claimed Britain’s first ever team title at the Europeans in 2011 while she also toasted bronze in the individual grand prix special.
However she will not compete at next week’s European Championships in Denmark with Mistral Hojris sustaining a slight injury and not being risked by British selectors.
Reserve Gareth Hughes with DV Stenkjers Nadonna will now join Dujardin, Hester and Michael Eilberg instead of Tomlinson, who also has European silver and bronze from 2009.
And World Class Dressage Programme Manager Richard Waygood said: “We are hugely disappointed not to have Alf [Mistral Hojris] out at the Championships.
“We feel he has been the most amazing servant to the British team and British Dressage and that he owes us nothing and we owe him everything; we wish him a speedy recovery.
“We welcome Gareth onto the team, for what will be his senior Championship debut.”
© Sportsbeat 2013