Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin third in Aachen grand prix: ‘I feel so emotional; it’s his biggest show’

Charlotte Dujardin took third place in the grand prix, the Prize of Family Tesch, in Aachen today (Thursday, 18 July).

The British rider was delighted with Sonnar Murray Brown’s Erlentanz, who scored 79.152% for his mistake-free test, with the marks only dropping down a little in the collected walk. Charlotte received a nine from all five judges for her riding.

“I’m ecstatic — I felt so emotional finishing that test. It’s the biggest show the horse has done and my first season with him, but he’s been an absolute pro from day one here and not looked at anything,” said Charlotte. “He’s made my life very easy because he just gets on and does the job for me. It’s a joy to ride a horse like this here.”

Germany’s Isabell Werth took top spot on 82.783% with Madeleine Winter-Schulze’s Bella Rose 2, the chestnut mare with whom she took individual gold at last year’s World Equestrian Games. Her test was marred only by a mistake in the one-time changes and the pair pulled in a total of 26 10s from the five judges — all for the piaffe, passage, transitions between those movements and Isabell’s riding.

Isabell’s team-mate Dorothee Schneider landed second on Gabriele Kippert’s Showtime FRH. She too made a mistake in the one-time changes, but also received a smattering of 10s from the judges.

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Britain’s up-and-coming star Lottie Fry, who was third at the lunchbreak with Dark Legend, finished just outside the top 10 in 11th, while the third Team GB rider, Louise Bell (Into The Blue), was 23rd.

All three British scores have to count for the Lambertz Nations Cup, after the withdrawal of Susan Pape’s Harmony’s Don Noblesse due to a minor infection. The team currently sits fifth, with scores from the special on Saturday still to come. Britain is less than two marks behind the USA in third, with Denmark sitting second and the home side in the lead by more than 14 marks.

Check back for more news from Aachen throughout the week, plus full reports in next week’s Horse & Hound (dated 25 July).

Pippa Roome

H&H magazine editor and eventing editor

Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.