Charlotte Dujardin made a confident comeback to international competition at Wellington CDI3* (11-12 October), guiding Ellie McCarthy’s 11-year-old gelding Brave Heart II to victory in both the grand prix (73.74%) and the grand prix special (72.83%).
There was little sign of ring rust from Britain’s joint most decorated female Olympian, whose performances were accurate and composed, with just a minor mistake in a trot half-pass the only blemish across both tests.
Brave Heart is a new ride for Charlotte, having competed at this level with his owner since April 2023. The gelding enjoyed a freestyle win at Wellington last year with Ellie and also represented Britain in the Nations Cup at Compiègne this season.
Watch Charlotte’s international comeback in the video below
“I look forward to seeing this new partnership prosper,” said Judy Harvey, British Dressage’s international director. “He shows a lot of talent and is an exciting horse for the future.
“Charlotte’s wealth of experience can only help him. He’s still a young horse who needs to develop further and find his balance. Where Charlotte is so great is that she can put him in the correct balance and help him through the test.”
Charlotte Dujardin continues her comeback
Charlotte made her competitive return on 27 July after serving a one-year suspension, winning both the advanced medium 3 (74.46%) and 4 (76.71%) at Hunters Equestrian with another new ride, Special Effekt (Sezuan x Cantoblanco).
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Between that return and Wellington, she’s competed three more times. The outstanding six-year-old Secret Agent (Secret x De Niro) collected a double medium win at Hunters and another medium victory at Hartpury University and College on 78.67%. Special Effekt has also continued her strong run, including a prix st georges debut victory, also at Hartpury, on 73.97%.
During her time away from competition, Charlotte’s top ride, Imhotep, was sold to Austrian rider Diana Porsche – in a move Carl Hester confirmed to H&Hhad always been planned for after the Paris Olympics. Her up-and-coming ride Times Kismet, was also sold to backers of the Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl.
But with her new string, Charlotte has now won all nine of her tests since returning to competition. Her stable is set to be bolstered further by the return of her own and Ulrike Bachinger’s Alive And Kicking (All At Once x Fürst Piccolo) – the grand prix understudy to Imhotep in the build-up to the Paris Olympics – who is due to make her comeback at Le Mans CDI3* this week (17 October).
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
