Lottie Fry and Glamourdale have secured a brilliant bronze medal for the British team in the Paris 2024Olympic dressage team competition, scoring 79.48% – making it the first Games since London 2012 that Team GB have won Olympic team medals in all three equestrian disciplines.
Teammate Carl Hester described watching her performance as “really emotional” and her score was enough to put Britain into a marginal lead over Denmark and Germany at the time.
But, next to go, Carl (Fame) knew he’d have to do something spectacular to keep the lead, coming up against heavyweights Isabell Werth (Wendy) and Nanna Skodborg Merrald (Zepter).
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out and the combination had a mistake in the second extended trot. But Carl recovered so well to keep the team on track for the podium, scoring 76.52%.
Against all the odds, it looked like it could be on early in the test, with the pair trending on massive scores. But slight mistakes in the piaffe brought that score back down.
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“I had an amazing ride today, so many improvements from the grand prix,” said Lottie. “There’s still a few little things we can improve for tomorrow which is exciting but it was an amazing feeling to ride in that arena, it looked pretty sold out – we’ve both really enjoyed it.
“I feel there’s still quite a bit left in the tank but he’s made me proud.”
After all that’s happened in the last week, and the enormous pressure the British team were working under, this is a remarkable achievement – one which Carl hopes will bring Britain’s dressage community together following the withdrawal and subsequent suspension of Charlotte Dujardin.
“It’s been a week of very, very different emotions, but this is a fantastic way to top it off,” he said. “I think a lot of people felt that if Charlotte wasn’t on the team then we wouldn’t be successful, so it was very important for the team to show that we could do that.”
Carl was full of praise for Becky in the packed-out mixed zone following the prizegiving.
“To breed your own horse and train it to the Olympics, these stories don’t come around too often,” he said. “And when you talk about pressure, Becky took the pressure off myself and Lottie by getting that score – it put all of us in a position to relax a little bit.”
With this a Team GB record-equalling seventh Games for Carl, his future, and what comes next, was also a hot topic of discussion.
He didn’t go as far as ruling out being on future championship teams but admitted he was content with what he’s achieved up to this point.
“I feel like I’ve done enough,” he reflected. “Luckily for me it doesn’t mean an end because I love coaching and watching these guys.
“I think that’s just age – you don’t care as much about winning but I care about the sport and the team, so whichever way I go after here, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to be involved.”
Britain’s three team riders will take to the Versailles stage once again tomorrow morning, as the best 18 riders in the world go head-to-head for the three prestigious individual podium places.
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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).
