Great Britain’s Lottie Fry was the golden girl at the ECCO FEI World Championships 2022 in Herning, Denmark yesterday when taking Grand Prix Special gold with the gorgeous stallion Glamourdale.
The crowd were still screaming when Fry came into the ring with just two left to go.
“They were literally going wild and he Glamourdale could feel the atmosphere and rose to it today. He was trying so hard and he gave me the most incredible feeling throughout the test!”, the British rider said after her test in at the ECCO FEI World Championships 2022 in Herning.
The day before she admitted that she was concerned that their lack of expertise in the pirouettes would let herself and her horse down. But in the end they nailed them she said, having posted what would be the winning score of 82.508.
“Anne van Olst, my trainer, was up the entire night worrying how I was going to fix those pirouettes, and I got a great tip from Isabell as well. And with the combination of both of them we got it done today!”
It wasn’t decided however until the final partnership of Isabell Werth and DSP Quantaz came into the ring as the last pair to go. And the German ace and defending Grand Prix Special World champion made quite an entrance.
As she passed the departing Fry on her way into the ring she gave her British rival a congratulatory high-five before re-establishing the most dramatic passage in preparation for going down the centreline. It was a wonderful sporting gesture.
“Isabell is literally the queen!”, Fry said of the Dressage superstar who slotted into fourth place, just off the podium, with a score of 79.073. “She is amazing, she has inspired me since I was five years old so it’s incredible and she’s the nicest person, always cheering and supporting!”
“When Glamourdale was seven he won the World Championship for Young Horses and that was when we knew he was a massive showman, he loves going in the ring, the more people the better, he wants to show off, he just wants everyone’s eyes on him!”
Lottie Fry (GBR)
Blown away
Talking about Glamourdale, Fry said she was blown away the first time she rode him as a six-year-old. “I’d never sat on anything like him before. He’s always been so special and the feeling he gives now is the same as when he was six – the sky is the limit!
“When he was seven he won the World Championship for Young Horses and that was when we knew he was a massive showman, he loves going in the ring, the more people the better, he wants to show off, he just wants everyone’s eyes on him! And then we made the step to Grand Prix and he just keeps getting better and better and stronger. He’s one in a million, I’ll never find one like him again. The future is also so exciting, this is his first senior championship and I feel like there is so much we can improve that it’s scary!”, Fry said.
Now it’s on to the last collection of medals in Wednesday’s Grand Prix Freestyle. Fry says she has something very special under her belt with her floorplan and musical score.
“The theme is Best of Britain, it’s all British tracks and it really suits Glamourdale. When you turn it on he just can’t stop dancing to it!”
