Charlotte Fry: “For younger horses, CDI Lier is the perfect entourage to gain experience”

Olympic, European and World Championship medalist and reigning World Champion: we are of course talking about British dressage rider Charlotte Fry! She is here, at CDI Lier, and we asked her what she thinks of the competition and which horses she took with her.

“For me, CDI Lier is the perfect environment to give my younger and less experienced horses experience with bigger atmospheres. It’s such a beautiful entourage here, I really love it.  Especially since the stables have been built permanently since two years, that makes it all perfect.”

We spoke to Charlotte right after her second win with Jackson, in the Small Tour Inter I. Whether she was happy with her ride? “Jackson was really good, the test we rode today was already much better than last time, so yes, I’m happy! It was only his second Inter I test ever so it’s all still new for him. Also, this is probably the biggest atmosphere he’s ever been in, but he handled it very well. He was a little nervous so we had some little mistakes, but he’s going to be very exciting for the future.”

Jackson is a special horse for Charlotte. “Jackson is a little nervous and he needs to have a good partnership with his rider, so he’s really a one-person horse. Once he trusts you, he gives everything. That’s what I like about him. He’s still new to the competitions but it’s going really well, I’m happy with his progress.”

Charlotte has another ride tonight, in the Grand Prix Special. “I also took Inclusive to Lier, for the CDI 3* Grand Prix. It’s his first big competition in a long time so it was still a bit too exciting for him yesterday, but we’ll see how that goes tonight in the Grand Prix Special. He is learning a lot and he is also a promising horse for the future.”

Photo: DigiShots – Charlotte Fry & Jackson