Lottie Fry

Charlotte (Lottie) Fry is a British dressage rider who is the reigning world champion, having won double individual gold at the World Dressage Championships in 2022, riding Glamourdale. She also took team bronze with the British Olympic dressage team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 with Everdale.

Lottie Fry was born on 11 February 1996. She is the daughter of the late dressage Olympian and European silver medallist Laura Fry, who died in September 2012 from breast cancer. Lottie says that her mother is her greatest inspiration, and the reason she got into the sport.

Lottie was a member of the British team at the 2010 pony European Championships at Bishop Burton, riding Andexer, and at the 2013 junior European Championships, in Compiègne, France, where she finished eighth individually riding Remming. 

In 2014, aged 18, Lottie moved from the UK to base herself at the yard of Anne and Gertjan Van Olst in the Netherlands. The move was engineered by Carl Hester, who competed alongside Lottie’s mother, and put her in touch with Anne. 

Since moving to the Netherlands, Lottie’s dressage career has gone from strength to strength, with more team appearances at both junior and young rider level:

• Team fifth, individual 10th at the junior Europeans 2014, riding Z Flemmenco

• Team seventh, individual 18th at the young rider Europeans 2015, riding Z Flemmenco

• Team fifth, individual sixth at the young rider Europeans in 2017, riding Dark Legend. 

Lottie Fry moved up to under-25 ranks in 2018, and with Dark Legend she achieved team bronze at the European championships at Exloo, the Netherlands, before going on to win individual gold and be crowned under-25 European champion. 

That same year, Lottie was crowned world champion in the seven-year-old section at the World Breeding Dressage Championships. She rode the Van Olsts’ exciting young Lord Leatherdale x Negro stallion Glamourdale to a resounding victory.

Senior success

Instead of completing her term in under-25 ranks, Lottie Fry opted to move up to senior grand prix level in 2019. She and Dark Legend were selected for the British team and competed at the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She and “Darky”, a Zucchero x Tango gelding, achieved more than 74% in the grand prix to help Britain finish fourth, following the elimination of Charlotte Dujardin and Mount St John Freestyle. Lottie qualified for the grand prix special, finishing 17th with more than 73%.

Lottie competed successfully on the 2019/2020 World Cup circuit with both Dark Legend and the Van Olsts’ Lord Leatherdale x Negro stallion Everdale, with whom she finished third behind Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester at Olympia in December 2019. 

In 2021, Lottie added another exciting ride to her grand prix string, with the former seven-year-old world champion Glamourdale graduating to compete at top level. He and Lottie finished fifth in the grand prix special at Hagen CDI4* in April 2021 with 76.4%, and became a strong contender for Olympic selection alongside Everdale and Dark Legend. It was Everdale who eventually got the nod and was Lottie’s partner in contributing to Britain’s team bronze in Tokyo. 

In 2022, Glamourdale graduated to become Lottie’s top horse, and the pair were selected for the World Dressage Championships in Herning, Denmark. They led the British team to silver, before going on to win individual gold in the grand prix special and freestyle.

Lottie also trains and competes several other stallions for Van Olst Horses including Chippendale (Lord Leatherdale x Negro), Don Joe (Diego x Lord Leatherdale) and Kjento (Negro x Jazz).