Charlotte Dujardin

Hobbies

Listening to music, socialising. (carlhester.co.uk, supremeproducts.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Occupation

Athlete, Horse Trainer

Family

Fiance Dean

Language(s) spoken

English

Coach

Carl Hester (GBR) (equestrianteamgbr.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Sporting relatives

She used to show horses and ponies and won titles at both the Horse of the Year Show and the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead. She feels that showing taught her ring-craft and gave her confidence in the arena. (eurodressage.com, 07 Aug 2011)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
She took up riding aged two and then started doing dressage aged 13. (eurodressage.com, 07 Aug 2011; supremeproducts.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Reason for taking up this sport
She was into showing and did not want to do dressage but her trainer Debbie Thomas put her on her Grand Prix horse, Truday, and persuaded her to try a bit of piaffe, a bit of passage and some changes. She picked up the skills immediately. (eurodressage.com, 07 Aug 2011; horsemagazine.com, 21 Oct 2011)

Ambitions
To win a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (eurodressage.com, 07 Aug 2011;
supremeproducts.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Training
She rides up to six hours per day. (supremeproducts.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Most memorable sporting achievement
Scoring a record 74.61 per cent on Valegro to claim victory on her Grand Prix debut at the 2011 Addington Manor International and winning team gold with Great Britain at the 2011 European Championships in Rotterdam. (horseandhound.co.uk, 26 Jan 2011; supremeproducts.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Hero
Dressage riders Carl Hester and Isabell Werth. (equestrianteamgbr.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Most influential person in career
Trainers Judy Harvey and Carl Hester. (horsemagazine.com, 21 Oct 2011)

Superstitions / Rituals
She never changes anything before a competition and wears the same set of clothes to compete. She also likes to spend some time on her own to focus before she enters the arena. (britishdressage.co.uk, supremeproducts.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

Sporting philosophy / motto
"An arena is an arena, that's how I picture it. I just try and ride the centre line like I ride the centre line at home." (horsejunkiesunited.com, 27 Jan 2012)

General
OTHER ACTIVITIES
She spends three afternoons per week working as a horse trainer and has worked with New Zealand's multiple world and Olympic champion eventer Mark Todd, concentrating on his flatwork. She said teaching the FEI Event Rider of the 20th Century was, at first, a little daunting, but she soon got used to it. "I don't really see the rider. Just what's going on, and get on with trying to improve the horse. Mark's great and such a lovely guy but I still shout at him just the same as everyone else." (eurodressage.com, 07 Aug 2011; equestrianteamgbr.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)

EARLY DAYS WITH VALEGRO
Her trainer Carl Hester showed Valegro a couple of times as a four-year-old, but the horse proved a little difficult to handle until she got her hands on him. "Valegro was very, very hot as a young horse. I started riding him, and I never let Carl have him back. He was never naughty, just hot – he had all this power and he didn't know what to do with it. He is so easy to ride now, when you sit on a horse like that, it is amazing. He is so sensitive as well, I don't kick, I don't have to pull, I just kind of sit, and he's gone." (horsemagazine.com, 21 Oct 2011)

HARDEST DECISION
In September 2011 she sold her 11-year-old Grand Prix horse Fernandez to Norway rider Cathrine Rasmussen. She had received other offers for him, but eventually accepted one she could not refuse. She admitted it was a tough decision, but a logical one that made financial sense and would not only allow her to buy a house but also a younger horse. "I've just done the hardest thing. Saying goodbye to my best friend in the whole world, Fernandez. I owe every thing to him. He is the most amazing horse I could have ever owned, perfect in every way. I will never forget all the wonderful things we achieved together from novice to Grand Prix." (eurodressage.com, 12 Sep 2011; horseandhound.co.uk, 17 Nov 2011)

EARLY DAYS
She left school at 16 and went to work for international dressage rider and trainer Judy Harvey. "Working with horses is something I had always wanted to do. I always thought, 'school's not going to teach me to ride any better'." Then in early 2007, her mother Jane met Carl Hester and persuaded him to give her daughter lessons. She had three lessons, was then asked to do 10 days work cover at his Gloucestershire yard and never left. Hester saw something of his younger self in her and decided to give her a break. (eurodressage.com, 07 Aug 2011; horsemagazine.com, 21 Oct 2011; carlhester.co.uk, britishdressage.co.uk, 09 Apr 2012)