Charlotte Dujardin Completes Triumphant Return to International Competition with Victory on Brave Heart in Wellington Riding CDI3* Special

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Charlotte Dujardin on Brave Heart completing Wellington Riding CDI3* Grand Prix Special.

HOOK, England, Oct. 11, 2025–Charlotte Dujardin completed a triumphant return to international competition with a victory on Brave Heart in the Wellington Riding CDI3* Grand Prix Special Sunday, a day after her Grand Prix win was greeted with overwhelming acclaim from around the world.

Charlotte and the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding scored 72.830% that included almost 50 marks of 8 and one 9 from the panel of five judges, with passage heavy test generally scoring highest of the 36 movements. The general impression received one mark of 8.5, three 8s and one 7.5.

British team rider Gareth Hughes on the 10-year-old Lusitano Lufada Mvl was runner-up on 70.489%, unlike the Grand Prix where Charlotte and Brave Heart was the only combination to break 70%.

Spectators at the riding school in the countryside estate clapped enthusiastically after Charlotte’s Special as they did for the Grand Prix,

Charlotte Dujardin on Brave Heart in Wellington Riding CDI3* Grand Prix Special.

This was the first international competition for Charlotte since June, 2024 and before withdrawing from the British team for the Paris Olympics.

Charlotte, 40 years old and the mother of two children, was suspended for one year on July 22, 2024 based on a video submitted by a Dutch lawyer representing an undisclosed complainant that the International Equestrian Federation, the sport’s governing body, said “showed Dujardin excessively whipping a horse during a training session at a private stable.”

Charlotte won a total of three gold medals at Olympics in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016 on her world No. 1 mount Valegro.

Brave Heart was competed by owner Ellen McCarthy at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida in 2024.

Results:

CDI3* Grand Prix Special
1) Charlotte Dujardin, GBR – Brave Heart 72.830%
2) Gareth Hughes, GBR – Lufada Mvl 70.489%
3) Tyla Schou, AUS – Dennis Deniro 65.609%
4) Darren Hicks, GBR – Tramontana Tiger Feet 64.191%
5) Carolyn Mellor, IRL – Gouverneur M 63.319%

CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle
1) Jessica Dunn, GBR – Dan Its Carston 72.905%
2) Lewis Carrier, GBR – Diego V 71.780%
3) Kimberley Siddorn, GBR – Dutch Class 69.345%