It went down to the last rotation of riders as a final showdown between Germany and Britain, after Carl’s super test on Fame had put Britain right into contention to defend the title they won in Riesenbeck two years ago.
When Isabell scored 79.224% on Wendy De Fontaine to slot into second on the leaderboard behind Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, a massive result from Lottie – Britain’s anchor – would be required.
As Lottie and Glamourdale’s average at grand prix prior to the European Dressage Championships was 76.59%, this was a big ask on a day when the judges weren’t throwing marks at competitors.
Lottie needed 78.73% to secure the gold medal for Britain and made a bold, confident start on the 2022 world champion Glamourdale. But while their highlights were exceptional, mistakes meant they finished on 75.87%.
This score was still comfortably good enough to secure team silver, staying ahead of Denmark in bronze.
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Glamourdale’s half-passes were stunning, and the judges loved their passage. However, Lottie had to make a correction in the passage before the stallion made an uncharacteristic mistake in the collected canter before the two-time changes.
Their party-piece extended canter naturally clawed back some of the lost marks with two 10s awarded, but ultimately, there were too many little blips, notably when he climbed his way through the pirouettes, that precluded a really top score.
“It was really exciting,” Lottie reflected after the prizegiving. “In team competitions, when it comes down to the last few riders, it always is.
“There was a lot of pressure going in, knowing we were in contention for gold. But I didn’t look at the scoreboard before I went in – I was very focused. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day; too many mistakes crept in, which can happen.
“I’m looking forward to the rest of the competition because Glamourdale is settling in and improving day by day. I think we’re going to be fine. And I still think we all did a good job to come away with the silver.”
There are no individual medals in this team contest, but Lottie finished sixth on the leaderboard, just behind team-mate Carl. Tomorrow (Friday, 29 August), individual medals will be awarded in the grand prix special, for which the top 30 from the grand prix go forward.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion 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.
