Laura Tomlinson (née Bechtolsheimer) will pay tribute to her long-standing dressage partner Mistral Hojris—more fondly known as “Alf”—during a retirement ceremony on Dec. 17 at the London Olympia CDI-W.

Tomlinson and Alf’s medal haul began at the 2005 FEI European Championships for Juniors and Young Riders in Barzago (Italy), where they won team silver and individual bronze medals. The pair’s most notable achievements include team silver and individual bronze at the 2009 FEI European Championships in Windsor (Great Britain) in 2009; three silver medals at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games (Ky.); team gold and individual bronze at the 2011 FEI European Championships in Rotterdam (the Netherlands); and of course, most recently team gold and individual bronze at the London 2012 Olympic Games. 

On her 18-year-old Danish Warmblood (Michellino—Virginia, Ibsen) gelding that she owns with her parents, Wilfried and Ursula Bechtolsheimer, Tomlinson, commented, “Alf has given me and my family so much joy over the years, especially on the four occasions that we’ve competed together at Olympia, and in my eyes he’s more than earned his retirement.”

Alf’s retirement at Olympia, The London International Horse Show will mark the end of a highly successful eight-year partnership, a partnership which has captured the hearts of dressage supporters worldwide, and one that has taken British dressage to a whole new level.