IT WAS a historic day for British dressage when the trio Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin and Laura Bechtolsheimer won Olympic team gold in the dressage with a phenomenal display at the Greenwich Arena.

In the final team test, the grand prix special to decide the medals, they rode brilliantly to win gold ahead of Germany with the Netherlands in bronze.

This is Britain's first ever Olympic dressage medal and it also made Team GB the most successful British team since 1908 as it was the team's 20th gold of the Games.

GB started the day with a lead of just 0.56% over Germany of just 0.56%. Germany's first team rider Dorothee Schneider riding Diva Royal put up a 77.571% in the specifically designed, more technically demanding Grand Prix Special test to give them a good solid start.

Carl Hester scored 80.571% to give Britain a great start. Carl said: "I was really, really pleased with that; I'm absolutely thrilled. I've lacked some confidence coming into this, I've only ridden the test once [in competition at Fritzens, Austria] and the score wasn't so good so to come here, to better the mark by 5% and here of all places is amazing. The horse is the same here as in the arena at home and I can't tell you what a comfort it is to have that."

Laura Bechtolsheimer posted 77.794% to give Britain a few more points leeway. After her test, Laura commented: "The old Alf's back, he felt fantastic; he gave me the performance of a young horse which makes me feel really emotional. He felt fantastic and even though we had a few costly mistakes I was so pleased.

"I feel so privileged to be part of the evolution of dressage, today has been so special. The crowd – there's nothing like it, it's amazing to have all those people behind you."

It was then down to 27-year-old Charlotte Dujardin; a rider who has only been riding at Grand Prix level for just 18 months. With Carl Hester and Roly Luard's amazing gelding Valegro, Charlotte rode a mature, perfectly presented test with just the smallest of errors. They scored 83.286% to take the Olympic record from her mentor, Carl Hester. A delighted Charlotte said; "My legs were like jelly, I was more nervous in there; I didn't ride like I knew I could but he still felt really good. It's so surreal but it was the ultimate dream to get here and win gold; Valegro's the horse of a lifetime."

It was also enough to give Britain gold. Previously, the dressage team's highest ever placing was fifth so to win a medal of any colour is a huge step in the evolution of the sport in Britain. It was also gold medal number 20 for Team GB making this the most successful Olympics for the country since 1908.