Lottie Fry unveiled her much-anticipated new “Glamourdale Airlines” freestyle at the 2025 European Dressage Championships, scoring 79.58% with Van Olst Horses’ 14-year-old stallion.
Set to a playful flying theme, the floorplan featured snippets of Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra and We’re Going to Ibiza by the Vengaboys, as well as airport-style announcements voiced by Lottie herself at the start and finish.
It is a freestyle brimming with originality and sure to become a crowd favourite. But its debut in Crozet was not without drama. With the speakers positioned directly across from where Glamourdale first halted, and the volume turned up much higher than during sound check, the stallion came out electrified in the early trot work.
“I think he was absolutely amazing today – he was literally on fire,” Lottie said. “The freestyle felt incredible. It’s just a shame about the sound system.
“I definitely didn’t have the music that loud in the sound check, but I didn’t really have much choice other than to go with it. He was popping and prancing today, but I can’t blame him.”
Despite the unexpected blast of sound and shaky start, Lottie kept her cool, recovered well, and Glamourdale was able to show off his trademark brilliance, particularly in the canter work. But the early setback put them out of medal contention.
“He didn’t make any big mistakes. All the canter work was amazing, and he stayed with me the whole way. He was still really concentrating despite the noise, which shows how much he’s matured,” Lottie said.
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“When the music first went off, he got a bit of a shock, and each time it changed, he was a little nervous. But once he got into it, he just went with it.
“He loves the crowd, and in the end it really suited him. He still felt fresh today, with plenty of energy left, and that gives me such a positive feeling going forward.”
A freestyle with a twist
The Glamourdale Airlines concept was born almost by accident, when Lottie and her team noticed that the music they liked all revolved around the idea of flying.
“Yes, that is my voice in the freestyle!” she said. “We thought it would be something fun and different — and I really enjoyed riding it.
“When we were looking at music, we realised all the songs we liked had the word ‘flying’ in them. So we thought, how cool would it be to make flying the theme. It hasn’t really been done before, and it’s always nice to bring fresh ideas to freestyle. It’s such fun to ride with that kind of music. He really suits it, and once he got into it, he loved it. It was a great feeling.”
Reflections on the week
Lottie admitted that her European campaign hadn’t been entirely smooth, but she finished with renewed confidence.
“I’m definitely happy after today. The first two days weren’t really ours, and unfortunately, today wasn’t perfect either, but the feeling he gave me today was really promising,” she said. “This week hasn’t been our smoothest, but I can take a lot of positives from how he went in the freestyle. It makes me excited for the future.”
Looking ahead, Glamourdale will have a well-earned break.
“I’d love to do more championships with him,” Lottie said. “He’s still in such great form, and I think he has many years ahead of him. For now, he’ll have a bit of a holiday, and then we’ll see how things go — but I’m really excited to ride this freestyle again.”
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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).
