What Britain’s Rotterdam performance means for the Euros as Olympic combination Lottie Fry and Glamourdale lead the way

British dressage was on strong form in the 76th edition of the Rotterdam CDIO5* Nations Cup, as Lottie Fry and Glamourdale continued their preparations for this summer’s European Championships, scoring 75.11% to top the individual scores.

It was their first outing since winning April’s Dressage World Cup, and despite mistakes down the centre line in the pirouettes and the last extended trot, Lottie was pleased with the performance.

“It was an amazing test and such an amazing feeling,” she said. “We were really working as one in the arena, and everything I asked, he gave – he was just incredible.

“Unfortunately, there was quite a big misunderstanding, which we didn’t get back from very easily, so two very expensive marks there, but apart from that, I was so happy coming out because of the feeling he gave, and he was so happy to be doing it.

“He was really excited, and you don’t need more than that.”

As the final combination to go for Britain, their score pushed the team’s total to 215.152 – just shy of the Netherlands’ winning score of 215.587 and enough to secure second place in the three-team Nations Cup.

What Rotterdam told us about British Dressage ahead of the Europeans

As Lottie and Glamourdale are all but locked in for the European Championships in Crozet, alongside Carl Hester (Fame) and Becky Moody (Jagerbomb), the British selectors used the Nations Cup as a proving ground for the fourth and final team spot.

Three riders were in the mix: Tom Goode, who scored 68.61% on Richard Jackson’s impressive 10-year-old gelding Furstenrausch PS, Sadie Smith, who made her senior team debut with a composed 69.09% on Swanmore Dantina, and Laura Tomlinson, who impressed with a smooth, confident round on her nine-year-old homebred Full Moon II, scoring 70.96%.

Elsewhere in the selection picture, Andrew Gould and Indigro still lead the pack after scoring 72.2% in the grand prix at Wellington CDI (4–8 June). But the race isn’t over yet – selectors will be watching closely as more combinations are set to be tested at Aachen CHIO in two weeks.

What the results in Rotterdam underline is the strength in depth of British dressage.

The competition served as a second official observation trial for the Dutch, whose team – Marlies van Baalen (Habibi DVB), Hans Peter Minderhoud (Taminiau), Marieke van der Putten (Kuvasz) and Thamar Zweistra (Luxuriouzz) – is likely to be the final line-up for the European Championships in Crozet.

That a British side missing two of its biggest names, and fielding three relatively green horses at this level, finished less than half a mark behind the hosts speaks volumes – not just for this summer’s prospects, but for the future.

It wasn’t long ago that British teams would have dreamed of closing the gap on the Dutch. Now, it’s the Netherlands that looks like outsiders for a medal in Crozet. The real threat to Britain’s hopes comes from familiar rivals: Germany and Denmark – the two teams that finished ahead of them at the Paris Olympics.

But both have vulnerabilities. Germany’s linchpin Dalera has retired, Denmark has lost Daniel Bachmann Andersen’s Vayron to Germany’s Ingrid Klimke, and Nanna Skodborg Merrald’s international future remains uncertain.

It sets the stage for a tight contest, with both nations now reliant on their headline acts – Isabell Werth and Wendy for Germany, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle for Denmark – to deliver if they’re to match Britain’s increasingly reliable core trio.

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