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‘Extremely unlucky’ says vet after Lottie Fry eliminated at dressage World Cup Final

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • The hot favourite Lottie Fry was eliminated from the dressage World Cup Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after her stallion Everdale was judged to have blood in the mouth prior to starting her test.

    The grand prix winner Lottie was first into the ring from the final quartet in the deciding freestyle, but the judge at C, Hans-Christian Matthiesen, stopped her before she’d trotted round outside the boards once, had a quick word, and Everdale left the ring on a long-rein walk.

    “That’s one of the very difficult parts of our job when we sit there as a judge at C, and I am devastated when it happens, but it’s a thin line and can happen in a split second,” said Hans-Christian. “Although it’s a hard decision to make, I was well backed up because our rules are very clear when it comes to that, so I could make the decision quickly.”

    The FEI vet director Göran Åkerström added: “The mouth of Charlotte’s horse has been examined and it is a minor bleeding from the mucosa, the gum above the incisors. It is the kind of injury that will heal extremely fast, it was not much blood at all. There should not be any concerns over the horse or the oral cavity because of it. It was extremely unlucky.”

    British Dressage shared the following statement on behalf of Everdale’s owners, the Van Olsts and Lottie.

    “We are of course upset with the elimination, but the horse’s welfare always comes first and foremost so completely respect the decision.

    “Everdale was checked over by the FEI vet team straight away and they couldn’t find any sign of a cut or abrasion in the mouth and our own vet has also given him a thorough check with no obvious cause. The most important thing is he’s fine and there is no injury.

    “We were really happy with the warm up where he was relaxed, we took his bandages off and gave him a final check before heading in to the arena and can only think he maybe just caught his front lip as we went around the arena.

    “It’s a disappointing way to end our FEI World Cup campaign, but we have a happy horse to take home for another day.”

    The dressage World Cup Final 2024 was won by Patrik Kittel riding Touchdown, ahead of Nanna Skodborg Merrald on Blue Hors Don Olymbrio, with Isabell Werth third on DSP Quantaz.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on dogs of all shapes and sizes. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs, one a street dog from Gambia who was abandoned at three weeks old. Now, her constant companion, whether by her feet at her desk or walking cross-country courses, is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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