Lottie Fry and Glamourdale (pictured top) produced yet another sensational performance to retain their individual world title in today’s grand prix special at the dressage World Championships in Aachen, Germany (14 August).

The British rider admitted she was reduced to tears when exiting the arena after her extraordinary partnership with the 15-year-old stallion delivered under immense pressure.

The reigning champions scored 82.295% to take gold, with Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour claiming silver on Mount St John Freestyle, while Germany’s Katharina Hemmer took bronze on Denoix PCH on her World Championship debut. Fellow German Isabell Werth, one of the pre-competition favourites, finished fourth with Wendy de Fontaine.

“He was just amazing,” Lottie said. “I can’t believe what just happened.”

The 30-year-old described it as the culmination of months of preparation, with a huge amount of teamwork behind the scenes.

“We’ve spent so long preparing for this event, and there’s such a big team behind it. And for it all to come together on the right day, is something you only dream of.”

Asked whether she felt it was one of the best tests she had ever ridden, Lottie said: “Oh, 100%. I’ve never had a test like that. I really don’t have words for him. He’s such an incredible horse, and the feeling of when he’s in front of a crowd – he just grows and he loves it.”

Glamourdale’s love of Aachen has been well established, and Lottie admitted she had been quietly confident that the atmosphere of the packed main stadium would bring out the best in him.

“Before I came here I said, ‘Oh, don’t worry, I never had a bad ride in Aachen,’ and then I touched wood, and luckily it worked.

“He does love Aachen, and I knew that going in the big arena, he would love it even more because there’s more people, there’s a huge atmosphere, and that’s just perfect for him when there’s all eyes on him.”

This victory means that Lottie and Glamourdale, who she co-owns with van Olst Horses, have successfully defended the crown they first claimed at Herning in 2022.

“I really haven’t taken it all in yet,” she said. “I think it was just the most incredible test.”

She admitted the test itself remained something of a blur.

“It’s crazy what just happened, but I just remembered going in that I needed to be completely focused, and he was completely focused. He felt relaxed yet powerful and happy, and just wanted to do his job.”

The emotions came flooding out immediately after their performance.

“I cried my eyes out the whole way out of the test because I was in such shock at how amazing it was,” said Lottie. “And then I’ve just been shaking for the past 10 minutes.”

Behind her, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour produced another hugely impressive performance to secure silver. The Danish rider, already among the established stars of the championship, kept the pressure on Lottie with Mount St John Freestyle and finished almost 2% behind the defending champion on 80.297%.

For Laudrup-Dufour, the silver represents another major championship success with this 17-year-old mare, adding to the combination’s growing reputation at the very top of international dressage and it ensured Lottie had no margin for error.

Britain’s Carl Hester finished sixth on Fame on 78.298%. Riding in temperatures approaching 37C, Carl praised the 16-year-old he co-owns with Fiona Bigwood and Mette Dahl, for producing a clean performance despite the heat, humidity and enormous atmosphere.

“What a horse he was today,” he said. “It’s very, very muggy out there and there’s a huge atmosphere, and that’s a difficult test, and it’s a long test too in the heat.

“I think he did a very, very good job. It was a very clean test as well.”

Carl commented that the heart of dressage remains the quality of the training rather than the flashiest natural movement.

“Training is what dressage is. the flashiest horse doesn’t always win – it’s the best trained horse with three good paces that does everything easily.”

Carl admitted that he has changed his freestyle ahead of tomorrow evening’s grand finale.

“I’ve changed my freestyle completely. I’ve gone for a crowd pleaser, and it is a big David Bowie compilation, with big tunes that I think a lot of people will know.”

For Katharina Hemmer, bronze represented a spectacular breakthrough, but she has already confirmed that her World Championship will go no further as her horse Denoix PCH will not compete in Saturday’s freestyle after a small injury earlier in the season prevented the pair from preparing adequately.

“He gave his all to me in both tests, and I don’t want to compete him in the freestyle when he is not 100% prepared,” she said.

Katharina was nevertheless delighted by her first senior World Championship medal.

“I’m incredibly happy and super proud of my horse,” she said. “He tried his hardest for me and it was such a great feeling to ride him there in the big stadium and to feel he gave his very best. It was a big honour for me.”

The German rider also recognised the significance of finishing ahead of the legendary Isabell Werth.

“To be in a battle with Isabell is always a good feeling, because then you know you’ve reached the top.”

Becky Moody and Jagerbomb in the grand pix special at the 2026 World Championships

Becky Moody also delivered a strong performance for Britain with Jagerbomb (pictured above), finishing sixth on 77.66%.

“He was yet again amazing in there,” Becky said. “He was a little more relaxed and chilled than he was on Tuesday [in the team test], which made life much, much easier.”

The experience of Tuesday’s grand prix gave Becky a clearer idea of what to expect from her home-bred 12-year-old in the special.

“I think I was a little better prepared going in there after Tuesday,” she explained.

Her preparation, however, suffered a remarkable last-minute setback when Jagerbomb pulled off a front shoe.

“We had a slight trauma just before we went in because when we did a halt and I did a little turn on the forehand, he pulled a front shoe off literally about a minute before I had to go in,” she said. “So that wasn’t that ideal prep, but he’s got really good, strong feet, thank goodness, and we checked him and he was all good.”

Becky also used the arena familiarisation under the lights on Wednesday evening to settle Jagerbomb.

“I just walked him, stretched him, did some halting, which is the thing that’s hard for him when he gets a little excited,” she said. “And he was really good.”

For now though, Becky and the top 15 competitors from today’s grand prix special have the prospect of riding before the huge Aachen crowd in tomorrow’s freestyle.

“The thought of riding in there to 40,000 people in those stands tomorrow night is incredible,” said Lottie. “I’m already a real mixture of super excited and super nervous.”

Images: © Tim Wilkinson

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