Charlotte Dujardin returned to the LeMieux National Championships today with her relatively new ride Brave Heart II, to gain the pair’s personal best score of 75.04%, and take the win in the LeMieux Grand Prix with a margin over 5%.
In their first year at this level and having only completed a handful of shows together, Charlotte is still getting to know Brave Heart, a 12 year old Oldenburg gelding owned by the McCarthy family. “He’s getting braver and braver in the arena now with me,” tells Charlotte. “He loves to go in there and try and perform.” The wind, rain and big atmosphere of the LeMieux arena at Somerford Park today had put many horses off, but Brave Heart kept his cool to deliver a stunning example of the Grand Prix test, going into the lead on a significant margin.
“He’s a really cool cheeky little chap — he’s got a great sense of humour. He’s got the character of a pony and I love that about him.” At only 16hh, Brave Heart exemplifies Charlotte’s preference for small, compact horses, and, with his powerful movement and showman attitude, demonstrates you don’t need a big horse to make a big impression.
Gareth Hughes and Mowgli Olympia MC took second place on 70.46%, followed by Fiona Bigwood and Donna Bella, fresh from the World Championships in Aachen, taking third on 70%.
Tomorrow sees the Grand Prix Freestyle take place, with Charlotte & Brave Heart in the ring at 16:23 BST.
Tune in exclusively on H&C+ for live coverage of the Kudos Grand Prix Freestyle from 15:10 BST. All classes from the LeMieux arena, including today’s LeMieux Grand Prix, are available on-demand exclusively on H&C+. Subscription starts from just £7.08 per month.