Sunday, 10 September 2023
After a week of top class dressage action, today was the climax of the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023, held at the Riesenbeck International equestrian centre in Germany. The British team has been on outstanding form so far, taking their first team gold medal in over a decade on Thursday, before securing two top-five placings and an individual bronze in the Grand Prix Special on Friday.
Today, on Grand Prix Freestyle Day, that medal tally was set to double. World Champions Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Fry was back on the podium in silver with her impressive stallion Glamourdale, while Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep added another bronze to their suitcase.
Grand Prix Freestyle is always a crowd favourite and this time around was no exception. The sold out stands at Riesenbeck were packed with spectators who knew, if the rest of the week was any indication, that they were going to be treated to a calibre of competition like never before.
As the action entered its final five pairings – those who had performed best across the week – the excitement in the air was palpable.
First in was Denmark’s Nana Skodborg Merrald with Blue Hors Zepter. Although a relatively new pairing, these two have impressed this week with some stylish performances that led them to take silver in the Grand Prix Special. The work today was still of high quality, but appeared just a little less polished than it had on Friday – it was possible that the gelding was feeling tired after a long, hot week of competition. Despite that, they shot into the lead with a score of 89.546%.
Next in were the ones that the home crowd were most excited to see. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB was already scooped one gold medal this week, taking the Grand Prix Special title on Friday, and were looking to retain the Freestyle title that they won at the previous European Championships in Hagen in 2021. Mindful of what’s to come next summer, their Freestyle choreography is set to a Parisian-themed medley of songs that suits the mare’s delicate movement and flair for piaffe and passage. It was all going as predicted until their line of one-time changes, where a break in the movement caused their marks to drop slightly. Luckily, Jessica was able to use her joker line to present a second clean line, but the question hung over them as to whether it would open enough of a door for one of the next four combinations to catch them. The final line racked in plenty of 10s, bringing the scores back up, and a square halt to finish added yet more. When the scores came in, the crowd erupted. It was a technical mark of 87.179% and an enormous 98.457% for the artistic gave a final score of 92.818% – catching it was going to take some doing.
In the roulette of the draw, our three British combinations would be the final three into the arena, taking the competition right down to the wire. What would they be able to do?
First in for British charge were World Champions Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Fry and 12-year-old Glamourdale. There was disappointment on Friday when the pair finished just off the podium in the Grand Prix Special, but it was clear from the moment they entered the arena today that they were going all out not to let the same thing happen again.
Lottie put up her hand to start the punchy opening beats of her ‘Best of British’ music – which earned them gold at the World Championships in Herning last year – and they were off. As the familiar guitar riff from Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ played, it was straight into a lovely square halt, then a curving line of passage and piaffe. The coal-black stallion, owned by Van Olst Horses, where Lottie has been based since 2014, is a true showman and clearly relishes the opportunity to show off for a crowd.
As the pair took the audience through a medley of some of the best of British rock and pop music – including The Beatles, The Verve, Eric Clapton, Robbie Williams and Phil Collins – they were also treated to a spellbinding showcase of some of Glamourdale’s party pieces, including trot and half-passes, one- and two-time tempi changes and, of course, his enormous extended canter. The only slight mistake came in the form of a wrong lead as they entered the canter section, but it was quickly rectified before they flew across the diagonal to the strains of ‘Millennium’, looking for all the world as though they were going to take off into space. The judges leant heavily on their 10 buttons and the marks continued to grow, getting ever closer to those of Jessica and Dalera.
As they rounded the final corner at F, the crowd held their breath – this is where the mistake had come at the World Championships and again at the London International Horse Show in December. However, they need not have worried – it was cleanly into back into passage for their final line. As the music returned to Queen, the crowd were already applauding, giving Glamourdale one last lift into the piaffe-passage zig-zag and pirouette that preceded the final halt. As the test finished, Lottie punched the air and hugged her stallion, her icy game face breaking into an enormous smile.
The score flashed up and it was a big one. A total of 86.786% for the technical mark, 97.971% for the artistic and a final tally of 92.379%. Although not quite enough to get ahead of the German pair, it was still a huge personal best and well within touching distance.
“He felt amazing today,” beamed Lottie. “He was just loving it so much and I finally felt like we were back on track today – everything was coming together. It just went so, so well and I couldn’t be more proud of him. It’s really special because the first time I rode that test was Herning and now we’re still only on our fourth or fifth ride ever so still, when the music starts, everyone feels it and it’s just incredible to ride to. He loves the clapping and it just reminds him that there’s lots of people watching him.
“I guess there’s a little relief that we’re back on the podium, but I think it’s mainly just excitement and I’m super-happy with the feeling that he gave me in there today. The first two tests maybe weren’t like I had hoped they would be, but today was the most incredible feeling. I’m quite speechless to be honest.
When asked to reflect on why things came together so well for them today, Lottie was pragmatic. “I think it was a combination of how the last two tests have been and I thought I would like to have a mixture of how the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special went, so I’m going for that,” she explained. “He also had a day off yesterday – it’s getting really hot for him here, and today he was fresh, but he was concentrating. On the first day, he was fresh and slightly distracted, and on the second day maybe slightly tired. So today, we got the perfect mix and it was such an amazing feeling. To get a personal best here, I couldn’t be more happy.”
If you had to choose a location for your first ever Freestyle as a partnership, most riders probably wouldn’t choose a European Championship. Not so for Carl Hester with his new ride, Fame. The pair might only have been together for nine months, after Carl took over the ride from friend and owner of Fame, Fiona Bigwood, but it’s clear this week that they’ve really clicked as a partnership.
They got off to a slightly rocky start when something spooked Fame at the A end as they prepared to enter the arena. However, Carl was quick to reassure the stallion in his usual unflappable way before putting his hand up to start the music. The floorplan, originally created for Carl’s Tokyo 2020 and European Championship 2021 medallist En Vogue, starts with a very high degree of difficulty – passage immediately out of the opening halt, into a piaffe pirouette, then back into passage before moving into canter pirouettes. The first centre line was a little wobbly, but Carl held Fame’s hand and, as the test progressed, his confidence rekindled and the handbrake came off.
What followed next was a true masterclass in nurturing every possible mark out of a horse who found himself slightly outside his comfort zone. The tempi lines were secure and expressive, the passage had lovely suspension and was bang on the music, and the pair showed a connection that belied their short time as a partnership. There was just one tiny blip when Fame broke into canter on the line of extended trot, but Carl was quick to correct him and they progressed well into their final passage zig-zag and halt. As the music stopped, Carl was quick to reward the stallion before smiling and waving to the cheering spectators. While they wouldn’t be challenging for a podium placing with their final score of 85.461%, the Sark-born rider was clearly delighted with what the two of them had been able to produce.
“I’ve just been thinking all year about the Grand Prix and the Special – this is what’s kept him calm,” explained Carl after their test. “I can’t believe he was that good today because I’ve never done that, and it’s just great. The freestyles are both technically difficult, have a good degree of difficulty, I knew that by the end of the week he would be even better and on my side so, that’s why I went for it.
“I was worried because the Special was his best relaxation and I was worried that this would make him more nervous, but it didn’t and we’re going home in a good way. Next year I’ll get a really good technical and make it even more difficult and great music for next year, but it was a perfect way to finish.”
Carl has been very open this week about how much he enjoys working with his newest championship ride. “Like I’ve said to Fiona and I’ve said here a handful of times, it was love at first ride,” he explained.
“I knew I’d get on with him – I love his personality, and I could just feel the trust that I have in him and he has in me. I did go in there not knowing what he was going to do and I questioned that a bit more today because I knew that there was more in the Special and I didn’t go for it, and I didn’t want to disturb him. I just thought, ‘you’ve got nothing to lose today, get stuck in’. If it hadn’t been that stupid blip – that was just me being greedy because he felt so lovely, so I thought I’ll just do a little bit more at the end, and paid the price.”
And then, there was one. There was just time for a few passing words of encouragement from mentor Carl Hester as Charlote Dujardin and Imhotep passed him on their way down the tunnel, before it was time to see whether they could cause a last-minute upset to the placings. It would require a huge personal best from the chestnut powerhouse gelding, but there isn’t a dressage fan in the world who would bet against his rider.
Carl Hester and Coral Ingham’s Imhotep has really come of age this week. Last year at the World Championship in Herning, he was the new boy on the block and found the whole experience just a little bit overwhelming. While they still placed well, you can could see that Charlotte was having to hold his hand very tightly. In Germany, he is starting to blossom into a true world-beater, although Charlotte has made it clear that the handbrake is still very much on as he develops the strength needed to contain the phenomenal power in his movements. They’ve already had two personal bests and two medals – a team gold and an individual bronze – to their name this week, so it just was just a question was whether they could continue that run of excellence.
As is her way, Charlotte had been very tight-lipped about what they’d actually be riding to today, revealing only that it was a brand new floorplan and brand new music. As the distinctive sound of a lion’s roar echoed across the Riesenbeck stadium, all became clear – it was the score from the Dreamworks film Madagascar. Later, Charlotte would share that they’d never actually ridden all the way through before and the choreography was only finalised this week while they were in Germany, but you couldn’t tell it from watching.
The test flowed beautifully, with Pete bouncing along the lively music and looking every inch the showman. The trot half-passes cleverly were set to Madagascar character King Julian’s signature song, ‘I Like To Move It, and they showed lovely fluency in the canter work. While ‘’Pete not have the pizazz of Glamourdale or delicacy of Dalera, he make up for it with having no discernible weakness – every single movement is accurate and well executed, scoring 8.5s and 9s throughout. Clean lines of one- and two-time tempi changes meant that Charlotte had the pick of how to use her built-in joker line – she opted to start the line with two-tempis, before moving seamlessly into ones. The final line of piaffe and passage was perfectly in time to the music, before moving into a piaffe fan that ramped up the degree of difficulty with changes of direction.
Now it was just a matter of waiting for the final score and where they would fall in proceedings. The wait seemed to take forever before the all-important numbers flashed up – a technical mark of 85.393%, an artistic mark of 97.400% and a final tally of 91.396%. Not only was that an almost 3% increase on their previous personal best, but it put them back on the podium with individual bronze.
“Coming into today, it was very, very exciting,” said Charlotte afterwards. “No one really knew who was going to be where, what order – it was quite interesting reading social media because they were guessing and I just had a laugh. I think you can never say until you’ve been in there and you’ve done the job. But for me, honestly, I finished that music this week, as I always do. I said to Tom [Hunt] after Aachen, I have got to get some music because I've been borrowing Valegro’s music, as I do, and I have to get some new Freestyle. So, I said to Tom, can we do one. I think I had three weeks to make a floor plan and get music and I unsurprisingly haven’t practiced it – that's the first time I've done it.
“For me, it’s the biggest buzz to go out there in that sort of atmosphere and ride out to a full crowd. You’re warming up and all you can hear is clapping, cheering, screaming, stamping feet, and that’s so exciting for our sport and for us riders to have that support behind you going into those arenas. It’s fantastic and I was just delighted from start to finish.
“Pete’s never had anyone clapping through his test and I was thinking, ‘they’re clapping and I'm not even close to home, oh my God I've got a fair way to go yet!’ But he’s just incredible – he takes everything in his stride, and he keeps going and I'm just so excited for next year. Six months ago, I had a baby and I obviously didn’t think I was going to be here this year – I kind of ruled out the Europeans, thinking that I’d aim for Paris next year. But here I am, sat here with a week of one gold medal and two bronze medals, absolutely thrilled. I can’t ask for more – I've had an incredible week, and what an experience for me and Pete, and for dressage.”
Aside from the medals and scores, one of the real narratives this week has been Charlotte’s return to the top level after the birth of her daughter, Isabella, in March. She’s made no secret of the fact that motherhood has changed her perspective of the sport and her role within in.
“It’s definitely changed me as a person, as the way I ride,” she explained. “I think, as much as I love my sport, and it’s been my life doing this – it’s been absolutely incredible to win the Worlds, Europeans, the Olympics, to have the world records I have. You look back on what I've achieved, it’s a bit surreal really.
“When I had Isabella, it just brought it home to me that it is all a game – there is always another day. If it doesn’t go your way one day, there’s always another day to improve. I think having the support from my family, my family’s health, having these kids, having children myself – and I can’t wait to have another one – it's real life for me. It’s what it’s all about – waking up every morning and seeing her. I actually struggle now to go to ride because I just want to be with Isabella. I did say I was going to give up and be a brood mare, I think that would be a good one. Who knows after Paris!” she joked.
As the dust settled and the final scores in, it was time to present the medals. Jessica and Dalera would add another gold medal to their extensive collection, along with a new European Championship record score. Hot on her heels to the silver medal were Lottie Fry and Glamourdale – with less than half a percentage point separating the two, it promises to be a real showdown at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Completing the podium were Charlotte and Imhotep. With another 12 months for Charlotte work on to easing off that handbrake, they’re another pairing that can’t be discounted next summer in the battle for an Olympic title.
Carl Hester and Fame ultimately finished in seventh place. As their partnership continues to strengthen, we look forward to seeing what else they can achieve.
All the dressage action will be available to stream live with English commentary on FEI.TV via a subscription to ClipMyHorse.TV.
Running orders and results are available from Longines Equestrian Timing.
Follow British Equestrian for all the action via: Website | Facebook | Instagram
The funding that the British Equestrian World Class Programme receives from the National Lottery and UK Sport is pivotal in preparing our teams for senior championships and supporting them on the ground.
British Equestrian is also extremely grateful for the support we enjoy from our partners – Bates Saddles, Dodson & Horrell, Fairfax & Favor, NAF, SEIB and Toggi – and team suppliers – Equi-Trek, Horseware, Lotus Romeo, Marksway Horsehage and Point Two. We’re indebted for the year-round support they provide to the World Class Programme and British teams.