GREAT Britain wins team bronze in the dressage team competition at the ECCO FEI European Championships in Herning, Denmark.

Four of the sport's heavyweights battled it out for the team medals. After the third rider for each nation had gone, there was a change in the standings and Britain moved up the leader board into medal contention following an expert performance by Carl Hester with his and Sasha Stewart's Uthopia to score 75.334%.

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro were full of confidence. The crowd were captivated for seven minutes of harmonious genius which the judges rewarded with 85.942%, a new world record score for grand prix.

The final Danish rider, Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein couldn't quite match Valegro with her final championship ride on Digby and their 76.003% ensured Britain had a medal.

It was then down to the final Dutch and German riders to battle it out with Britain breathing down their necks. Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival showed their class but some time out of the ring told and they scored 80.851% which was enough to relegate Britain. Helen Langehanenberg and Damon Hill NRW knew they needed a big score to ensure gold and they answered with a beautiful flowing test for 84.377% to give gold to Germany, silver to the Netherlands and a bronze for Great Britain.

British team Chef de Mission, Will Connell, summed the competition up: "We are absolutely thrilled with how the team as a whole have performed. Gareth did a fabulous job to contain a hot horse; Michael has demonstrated yet again that he's cool under pressure at the very highest levels of the sport. Carl who's only competed once this year on Uthopia produced a masterclass throughout his test, whilst Charlotte has again raised the bar in dressage."

Final team scores

Gold - Germany 234.651%

Silver - Netherlands 233.967%

Bronze - Great Britain 233.540%