Carl Hester has reiterated that Valegro will enjoy an active life after his retirement from competition at this year’s Olympia.
“We are retiring him from competition – we are not retiring him from being ridden,” said Carl. “He’s won 10 gold medals – that’s a huge amount – and he doesn’t need to be judged anymore. He’s done everything there is to have been done and holds every World record.”
Valegro’s rise in the sport has been an integral part of British Dressage’s recent success. A decade ago the Brits were never in medal contention in the dressage, but they have secured a medal at every championship since 2009. But Carl is confident that we can remain competitive as a nation even without the great Valegro.
“I don’t want to see it go down now, it’s taken years and years to get there and we’ve stayed up there since 2009,” he said. “However, I don’t think it will From this year’s Olympics with Spencer Wilton and Fiona Bigwood, they’ve got two very good horses and were well placed. They will be in a good position to take the team forward next year. There’s also Laura Tomlinson, and lots of other good riders chewing at the door, and it would be good for them to get that experience.”
There are also some ones to watch, waiting in the wings at Hester’s yard.
“Charlotte and I have a horse each – Delicato is pretty fabulous, and Charlotte has amazing mare [Mount St John Freestyle] who has that quality that gives you goosebumps when you watch her.”
Carl and Charlotte dominated at the recent LeMieux British Dressage National Championships. “We had the 5-year-old champion, Novice, Elementary, Medium, Advanced Medium, Prix St Georges and Grand Prix, so we have a great depth and probably the best group of horses we’ve had in a long time.”
It’s now just over two months until Valegro will retire at the Olympia horse show.
“There are two days of dressage and hopefully he will make an appearance on the Tuesday as well – as not everyone can get there on the Wednesday, since I believe from Simon Brooks-Ward it was sold out quite a few months ago, with the World Cup and people anticipating Valegro’s retirement,” said Carl.
The plan is for Charlotte to perform one of her record-breaking Freestyle routines with Valegro.
“I imagine it’ll be a Kleenex wipeout,” he says.
Carl was at HOYS yesterday, giving a dressage masterclass to the enthusiastic audience on Friday before the evening’s dressage competition.
“Dressage demonstrations are getting more interesting to people, especially as we’ve become more successful,” he said.
Charlotte was one of the guinea pig riders for the demo, riding Mount St John VIP.
“It’s especially good for the crowd to see Charlotte riding a young horse – we all know what she looks like on Valegro, which is amazing, but not many people get the chance to see her on a young horse and just how brilliant she is.