GB’s dressage team gets silver at the Euros

Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin, Lottie Fry and Gareth Hughes take European team silver © BEF / Jon Stroud Media

Team GB’s dressage squad did the nation proud once again at the FEI European Championships in Hagen, returning home with silver, having just missed out on the top spot

After a close contest between nations, Team GB – made up of Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin, Lottie Fry and Gareth Hughes – couldn’t quite hang on to their overnight lead, coming second to home nation Germany, who marked their 25^th European Championship title. Meanwhile, Denmark finished in bronze medal position after an admirable fight for their place on the podium.

First up on day one of dressage was Gareth Hughes on Sintano Hof Olympia. Reserves at the Olympic Games, Gareth finally had his chance in the spotlight. The pair rode a mistake-free test, riding strong pirouettes and many other high-scoring sections. Being only Sintano’s third season at Grand Prix level, Gareth admitted that the nerves crept in for him, but still beat the horse’s best score to date by 0.2%, giving the team a strong start with a score of 74.394%.

Second to ride was Lottie Fry on her Olympic horse Everdale. The pair has had an incredible year, with both horse and rider making their Olympic debuts only weeks prior. Lottie’s one-time changes were high scoring, along with a very impressive demonstration of extended canter, followed by a clean passage and piaffe. Their score was a personal best for both horse and rider at a highly commendable 77.671%, which was enough to make them overnight leaders halfway through the competition.

On the final day, attention turned to Carl and Charlotte. Carl Hester was first to go for the Brits with all to play for. Carl’s no stranger to pressure and although En Vogue lacked experience he’d learned a lot from his time at Tokyo. Despite an anxious start, the combination kept their cool enough to complete a respectable test but a few small errors cost them the marks Carl might’ve hoped for, but many of the more challenging moves were well executed. They finished on a score of 74.845% leaving them well within the running for the individual competition.

Finally, Tokyo shining stars Charlotte Dujardin and Gio had Team GB’s hopes in their hands. The talented gelding gave the test all he had, but his inexperience showed when he spooked at a board, but they soon got back into the groove. The little horse who could, Gio made the passage look like he was floating on air but unfortunately, even the whopping score of 79.829% was just a smidge under what was needed to secure the gold. “I’m so pleased,” said Charlotte. “This was only Gio’s sixth Grand Prix, and he’s still so inexperienced.”

The German team were in the gold with 238.944, followed closely by Great Britain on 232.345 and Denmark hot on their heels with 231.165.

The individual competition

Following the team competition came the first of the battles for individual medals. After the fierce competition of Tokyo 2020 had ultimately come down to a handful of European nations, the fight for a European individual medal certainly lived up to the billing as a sensational tussle for a podium place. All three medals were claimed with 81%+ scores. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl once again proved unbeatable on home soil with TSF Dalera, while teammate Isabell Werth riding Weihegold OLD and Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour riding Bohemian completed the podium.

There may have been no medals for Britain, but the next three places were all occupied by the Union flag – proving the depth of talent of the team and promise of what’s to come. While British riders may have been pipped to the podium this time, there’s still plenty to play for over the weekend – Charlotte, Carl and Lottie have all booked their place in tomorrow’s (Saturday 11 September) Grand Prix freestyle competition, where they’ll fight once more for their shot at a medal. Though Gareth finished in 15^th place and technically earned a spot, only three riders from each nation are allowed to progress, so on this occasion he’ll sit out and support the team from the side lines.