‘He’d literally never done the floorplan before’: Charlotte Dujardin wins the freestyle to be crowned national champion
Charlotte Dujardin secured her third national champion title in some style, riding Brave Heart II to a stunning freestyle win on their first kür together
Charlotte Dujardin has been crowned the national champion at the 2026 LeMieux National Dressage Championships, scoring 79.4% to win the Kudos freestyle on Brave Heart II – their first kür together.
It’s the third time she’s been crowned national champion after winning in 2015 on Barolo and 2020 on Mount St John Freestyle.
The overall national title is decided on the combined score of the grand prix and the freestyle – and Charlotte’s grand prix score alone, more than five percentage points clear of her nearest rival, had already put it within touching distance.
But perfectionist that she is, Charlotte was never going to play it safe and settle for that lead – she came out to win the freestyle outright too.
“That’s actually Gio’s music, from the Tokyo Olympics,” she explained. “All year I’ve been doing specials, focusing on that and the grand prix, and then I was thinking, ‘Oh no, I'm going to have to do a freestyle – what am I going to do?’
“I thought I’ll have to use one I’ve already got, so I thought this might work. He’d literally never done the floorplan before though – I just had to give it a go and see what happened.”
It was ambitious – with piaffe pirouettes and a curving in-and-out line of one-time changes – but she pulled it off with aplomb. As she entered the LeMieux Arena, a strange hush fell over the grandstands, just as it had yesterday for the grand prix.
The canter pirouettes were the standout technical movement, with one judge awarding as high as a 9 – the only real dip came in the transitions in and out of the piaffe, hardly a blemish on an otherwise exceptional test.
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“He got a bit ahead of the music at the start, so I was a touch too far ahead waiting for it,” Charlotte admitted.
“But he gave everything a really good go, and I was so proud of him – it’s a very technical, difficult test, lots coming in and out of it, piaffe pirouettes, changes on the curves.
“The only thing I changed was the end and didn’t do another piaffe pirouette – because I think for him, he’s just done loads of it. But I was thrilled with him – no big mistake. It just felt like a really good experience for him as well.”
For all the technical elements of the test, it was Brave Heart's temperament that seemed to please Charlotte the most. Owned by Ellie McCarthy, the 12-year-old gelding stood unbothered after his lap of honour as vans and traffic dismantling the trade stands rumbled past around him, patiently posing while Charlotte stopped to take pictures with several young fans.
“He’s such a sweet horse, you can’t fault him – he comes out for the prize-giving and just stands there for everyone to pat him, have pictures, see him. The crowd, the spectators coming over for photos – it was very, very nice.
“It was a nice end to the show, and the sun was shining, which is even better – so we didn’t get wet!”
Final national championship standings:
- Charlotte Dujardin – Brave Heart II – grand prix 75.04%, freestyle 79.4% (154.444)
- Fiona Bigwood – Donna Bella – grand prix 70%, freestyle 75.05% (145.05)
- Gareth Hughes – Mowgli-Olympia MC – grand prix 70.46%, freestyle 73.95% (144.407)
- Alexander Harrison-West – Kickback – grand prix 68.17%, freestyle 72.93% (141.099)
- Ruby Hughes – Farrell – grand prix 69.59%, freestyle 67.83% (137.412)
- Kimberley Siddorn – Dutch Class – grand prix 66.44%, freestyle 70.18% (136.61)
- Olivia Oakeley – Full House – grand prix 67.33%, freestyle 68.90% (136.226)
- Darren Hicks – Tramontana Tiger Feet – grand prix 64.8%, freestyle 67.78% (132.579)
- Tom Goode – Furstenrausch PS – grand prix 64.74%, freestyle 67.35% (132.089)
- Anne-Marie Cowan – Woodcroft Royal Charter – grand prix 63.98%, freestyle 66.18% (130.153)
- To stay up to date with the latest news and reports throughout the LeMieux National Dressage Championships, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website and pick up a copy of Horse & Hound magazine, in shops from Thursday 17 September
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).