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Dressage squad 2023

Charlotte Dujardin

  • Age: 38
  • Based in: Newent, Gloucestershire
  • World Ranking: 6

Charlotte began her equestrian career in showing at a young age – her interest in dressage started in 2007 when she went for lessons with Carl Hester. After several lessons and a short time spent working on the yard, Carl offered her a full-time position as a rider.

Charlotte made her senior championship debut, partnered with Valegro, at the FEI European Championship in 2011 at Herning – the first time a British dressage team won a gold medal. The pair went to their first Olympic Games in 2012 and returned with two gold medals. They went on to win five team medals and seven individual golds for Great Britain at championship level, including team silver and individual gold at the Rio 2016 Games. Together, they concurrently held World, European and Olympic champion titles and still hold the world records in the Grand Prix (87.460%, Olympia CDI-W 2014); Grand Prix Special (88.022%, Hagen CDI4* 2012) and Grand Prix Freestyle (94.300%, Olympia CDI-W 2014) tests.

Following Valegro's retirement, Charlotte took Mount St John Freestyle to the World Equestrian Games at Tryon in 2018, securing team and individual bronze. She contested her third Games in Tokyo with the 'pocket rocket' Gio, where three brave performances helped the team to a bronze medal and took a bronze for themselves in the Freestyle against the odds. The pair headed to Hagen in Germany for the FEI European Championships a matter of weeks later and put their experience to good use, claiming a silver team medal and securing a second bronze individually. 

Charlotte brought forward her newest star, Imhotep, for the World Championships in Herning last year, scoring 77.407% and finishing in fourth place in the Grand Prix to help gain the team silver medal and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

A short break followed that winter as Charlotte welcomed her first child, Isabella, into the world. However, she was soon back to her winning ways, heading to Royal Windsor Horse Show just weeks after returning to the saddle and scooping the win in both classes with Imhotep. 

Charlotte and ‘Pete’ headed to CHIO Aachen this spring to compete in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup, where the British team finished third. They were runners up in the Grand Prix Special and third in the Grand Prix Freestyle.

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Imhotep

  • Known as: Pete
  • Owners: Carl Hester and Coral Ingham
  • Colour: Chestnut
  • Sex: Gelding
  • Age: 9
  • Height: 16.2hh
  • Broodlines: Everdale x Vivaldi
  • Breeder: T Huizing
  • Groom: Francesca Gorni
  • World ranking: 6

Pete was purchased by Carl Hester from a video when he was a young horse. His overexuberant nature came with a habit for bucking riders off, which prompted Carl to hand him over to Charlotte to train at home, while also being competed as a young horse by stable jockey Sadie Smith. Coral Ingham came onboard as co-owner and Charlotte took over Pete’s competitive career in 2020, and they’re since unbeaten on home soil. 

Despite being nine years old, new to Grand Prix level and with only two international starts under his belt, Pete was selected with Charlotte to compete at the FEI Dressage World Championship in Herning, where the British team took silver. Remarkably, ‘Pete’ contested his first ever Grand Prix Freestyle at the championship, taking a credible 10th place with a reworking of Gio’s score from Tokyo. That same day, a Facebook from Sadie reminded everyone that it was exactly three years since young ‘Pete’ won the Elementary Regional Championships with her – an incredible insight into just how talented he is. 

Pete had a break after Herning while Charlotte was on maternity leave, returning to competition at Royal Windsor Horse Show in May and looking better than ever. He and Charlotte took the win in both classes, which set them up nicely to head to CHIO Aachen, where they were second in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special, and third in the Freestyle. 

At home, Pete lives out in the field with his friend Jaguar and only comes in to be ridden. 

Personal Bests

Grand Prix Grand Prix Special Grand Prix Freestyle
80.79% 80.87% 88.42%
CHIO Aachen (2023 Wellington CDI3* (2023) CHIO Aachen (2023)

 


Charlotte Fry

  • Age: 27
  • Based in: Den Hout, Netherlands
  • World Ranking: 2

Lottie was born into dressage – her late mother, Laura Fry, had competed at the 1992 Olympics and was a European team silver medallist before going on to run a successful dressage training yard at home in Yorkshire. Lottie was sat in the corner during lessons and training most days and was riding a horse before she could walk. From 2012, Lottie trained with Carl Hester, who rode on the 1992 Olympic team with her mum, and he helped her to secure a place at Van Olst Horses in Holland, working and training with five-time Danish Olympian Anne Van Olst. Lottie continues to be based there.

Having secured a trio of medals at the FEI U25 European Championships with Dark Legend, Lottie's first senior team call up came when she was just 23, when she rode Dark Legend as part of the fourth-placed team at the FEI Dressage European Championship in Rotterdam. Her next team appearance was at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with the young, expressive stallion Everdale – they made a lasting impression, helping Britain to team bronze as well as finishing 13th in the Freestyle. At the FEI Dressage European Championship in Hagen just a few weeks later, Lottie and Everdale put their Olympic experience to use and achieved three personal bests, which saw them finish fifth in all three tests, play a key role in the team's silver medal and score 84%+ in the Freestyle.

For the FEI Dressage World Championship, Lottie brought forward another exciting stallion from Van Olst Horses, Glamourdale. The pair set the Herning stadium alight, helping Britain to a team silver medal, before going on to take individual gold in the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle – Great Britain has a new dressage world champion!

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Glamourdale

  • Known as: Glammy
  • Owners: Van Olst Horses
  • Colour: Black
  • Sex: Stallion
  • Age: 11
  • Height: 16.3hh
  • Bloodline: Lord Leatherdale x Negro
  • Breeder: J. Rodenburg (NED)
  • Groom: Richard Hauwaerts
  • World ranking: 2

Related to the great Valegro through his damsire line, Glamourdale is a breeding stallion based at Van Olst Horses. He and Lottie won the FEI Young Horse World Championship in 2018 when he was seven years old, receiving a perfect 10 for their canter work. They made their Grand Prix debut in 2021 and in that time have never finished lower than seventh in all their international outings.

Glammy's first time representing Great Britain was at the Nations Cup in Compiègne in May, where he and Lottie topped the leaderboard in both tests and gained a personal best in the Grand Prix. Selection for the FEI Dressage World Championship in Herning offered Glammy the chance to step out of the shadow of his half-brother, Lottie's Olympic and European Championship ride Everdale, and show what he can do on the senior world stage. 

Show everyone he did – the impressive black stallion captured hearts in Herning with his elegance, expression and, of course, that enormous extended canter. After helping Great Britain to a team silver medal, he and Lottie went on to take the individual gold medal in the Grand Prix Special and earned themselves the title of world champions. All eyes were upon them for the Grand Prix Freestyle and they didn’t disappoint – performing to a ‘Best of British’ pop medley, they broke the coveted +90% barrier with a personal best of 90.654%!

Glammy joined Lottie for her homecoming event at the London International Horse Show in December, where they competed in the British leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup series. To rapturous applause, they earned themselves the win with a huge 90.995%

Grand Prix Grand Prix Special Grand Prix Freestyle
80.839% 82.508% 90.995%
Herning CH-M-D (2022) Herning CH-M-D (2022) London International Horse Show (2022)

Carl Hester

  • Age: 56
  • Based in: Newent, Gloucestershire
  • World ranking: 16

Carl learnt to ride at an early age in Sark before moving to Dorset to work at the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy. Two years after taking up dressage, he was crowned the 1985 Young Rider National Champion.

After representing Great Britain at the 1990 World Games on his employer Dr Bechtolsheimer’s Giorgione, he went on to win his first medal for Great Britain at the 2009 European Championships.

Carl claimed team gold and two individual silver medals with Uthopia in 2011 – his first ever individual honours. The combination went on to represent Great Britain at the London Olympics in 2012, where they secured team gold, before adding a team bronze to their tally in 2013. Carl was awarded an MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours List.

The British-bred Hawtins Delicato, or Del, was produced by Carl's protégé, Charlotte Dujardin, up to Grand Prix before Carl took over the ride in May 2018. After contesting three CDIs, where they finished on the podium every time with scores over 75%, they were selected to be part of the team that won bronze at the World Equestrian Games in 2018.

In 2019, Carl took on the ride of En Vogue, owned by Charlotte Dujardin. She'd produced the talented but quirky gelding to Grand Prix, but Carl gelled with him better. Their scores impressed each time out and lead to selection for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics where Carl produced one of the best tests of his life to secure the team bronze medal. Weeks later, they were in action at the European Championships in Germany where he played a vital role in claiming team silver in a battle with Denmark.

An unfortunate injury to En Vogue meant a quiet 2022 for Carl, although he still attended the FEI Dressage World Championship in Herning in the dual roles of coach and owner of Charlotte Dujardin's Imhotep. He kept a number of Charlotte's rides ticking over at home while she was on maternity leave, before returning to competition in January with new partner Fame. 

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Fame

  • Known as: Fame
  • Owners: Fiona Bigwood, Penny Bigwood, Mette Bigwood, Anders Dahl
  • Colour: Bay
  • Sex: Stallion
  • Age: 13
  • Height: 16.2hh
  • Breeding: Bordeaux 28 x Rhodium
  • Breeder: V.O.F Gerritsen (NED)
  • Groom: Lucy Scudamore
  • World ranking: 22

Fame's competitive career started at the hands of Anders Dahl in 2020. They did two outings at Inter II together, before the ride passed to Anders' wife Fiona Bigwood to begin Fame's Grand Prix career. 

Family commitments and a focus on her other top horse, Daytona Platinum, meant that Fiona decided to pass the ride on Fame to her friend, team mate and coach, Carl Hester at the end of 2022. 

Their first competitive outing, after just eight weeks together, was the Grand Prix at Hartpury in January, which they proceeded to win. In fact, of their eight outings and 10 tests together, only twice have the pair not won – they were second to Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special at Wellington in June. 

"I love riding Fame – he loves his job and is a real overachiever," said Carl after their win at Hartpury. "He is just divine to ride. He’s hot and goey and just needs steering in a calm way.”

Personal Bests

Grand Prix Grand Prix Special Grand Prix Freestyle
77.98% 77.60% N/A
Somerford Park Premier League (2023) Wellington CDI3* (2023) N/A

Gareth Hughes

  • Age: 52
  • Based in: Southam, Warwickshire
  • World ranking: 11

Although born in Yorkshire, Gareth grew up in Australia, where he spent a lot of his childhood competing in western riding and showing. He returned to England when he was 23 and started to become involved in dressage, working at Paradise Farm in Oxfordshire. In 1999 he was offered a horse to ride when he met FEI dressage judge and trainer, Stephen Clarke, who he now considers as one of his main influences.

In 2013, Gareth received his first call-up to the senior team with DV Stenkjers Nadonna, coming off the reserve bench to replace Laura Tomlinson. They helped the team win bronze and, a year later, were part of Great Britain’s squad for the World Equestrian Games, where they won team silver. Following a series of strong results, Gareth was selected to be part of the squad heading to the European Championships in 2019 with Classic Briolinca. They put in three personal best performances and finished best of the Brits in tenth in the Freestyle.

In 2020, Gareth caught the selectors' attention with Judy Firmston-Williams' Sintano Van Hof Olympia and they were duly named as travelling reserves for the Tokyo Olympic Games, a role they fulfilled with great passion and support, despite never getting to compete. Their dedication was rewarded with a place in the team for the FEI European Championship in Hagen shortly after, where they were part of the silver medal-winning team. 

Last year, Gareth was selected for another World Championship, this time in Herning with Classic Briolinca. 

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Classic Briolinca

  • Known as: Briolinca or Princess
  • Owners: Julia Hornig, Rebecca Hughes, Ruby Hughes and Gareth Hughes
  • Colour: Bay
  • Sex: Mare
  • Age: 17yrs
  • Height: 16.2hh
  • Breeding: Trento B x Royal Dance
  • Breeder: Febr van der Steen (NED)
  • Groom: Steph Sharples
  • World ranking: 13

Briolinca's star potential was spotted by Gareth's wife, Rebecca, while she was horse shopping in the Netherlands. The then three-year-old was brought over to the UK, where Gareth has produced her even since. Their first competitive outing came 10 years ago in the Somerford Park Premiere League.

Briolinca's first championship call-up was for the European Championships in Rotterdam in 2019, where the British team finished fourth. Last year, Briolinca headed to the World Championship in Herning with Gareth. The pair put in some fantastic performances, helping to take a team silver and scoring huge personal best in the Freestyle as they performed a new floorplan set to a Madonna medley for fifth place. 

Briolinca has only been competed lightly since her trip to Herning, taking second in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle at the London International Horse Show in December – behind team mates Lottie Fry and Glamourdale – and again at Royal Windsor Horse Show in May – this time behind team mates Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep. Her other international outing was to Wellington in June, where she and Gareth were third in the Grand Prix behind Charlotte with Imhotep and Carl with Fame, and second in the Freestyle behind Carl and his other top horse En Vogue. 

Personal bests

Grand Prix Grand Prix Special Grand Prix Freestyle
78.26% 78.98% 84.59%
London International Horse Show (2022) Keysoe CDI3* (2020) London International Horse Show (2022)