BRITAIN’s Lottie Fry and her superstar stallion Glamourdale won the 11th and last leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup Western European League at the Dutch Masters in ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, last Sunday.

On an afternoon that proved challenging for a number of horse-and-rider combinations, the reigning double-individual world champions quickly recovered after a surprising moment of discord during canter half-pass to post the winning score of 86.835.

The Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere (Hermes NOP) finished second ahead of Germany’s Isabell Werth (Emilio) and Benjamin Werndl (Famoso OLD) in third and fourth places while the exciting new Dutch combination of Marieke van der Putten and Torveslettens Titanium finished fifth.

There were nine places up for grabs for the 2023 series final which kicks off in Omaha, USA, on April 4th and, finishing sixth on the leaderboard, Fry made the cut.

However the 27-year-old athlete could not confirm if Omaha was the plan and, a few days after the event, owners Van Olst Horses confirmed that Glamourdale will not travel to Omaha as he has important stud duties.

While Lottie rode at four World Cup qualifiers this season, Glamourdale was the only horse who did two qualifiers and is therefore her only horse eligible, meaning the world champion will not compete in Omaha.

Excited

Fourth-last to go, Germany’s Benjamin Werndl set the target with Famoso OLD who swaggered his way to the first over-80% mark of the day, scoring 82.760.

However van Liere and Hermes NOP, double-bronze medallists at last year’s World Championship, bettered that. Starting out with sensational passage/piaffe and the most wonderful rhythm they looked set to really blow the lid off the competition.

But the 13-year-old stallion became increasingly tense and they finished on a mark of 83.375 - less than the 87.055 they posted to win on home ground in Amsterdam in January but good enough to temporarily take the lead today.

“Hermes gets more excited when there is a lot of people, but I am still very happy about our progress together and where we are going. He can be very good in piaffe/passage which I think were my best ever today. I need to get him quieter in the canter now”

Fry and Glamourdale followed them into the ring and it was quickly clear that their score was going to put them out in front, especially after earning 10s across the board for their first extended canter and 9.3 for lovely two-tempi changes.

But the stallion suddenly shook his head and spooked during the canter half-pass and although he quickly regained his equilibrium the lost points left the pair with a final tally of 86.835, well below the 90.995 they posted when winning in London last Christmas.

“It was a shame, because he did some of his very best work today,” Fry said afterwards. “It is a big arena with a lot of atmosphere and he came back and we finished well so I am happy tonight!”

That big atmosphere also seemed to get to Werth’s 15-year-old gelding Emilio who threw in some high jinks before they entered the arena to score 82.670 which would leave them in third.

Werth will compete at her 23rd FEI World Cup Final next and has won five times.