Valegro

THERE can be no other horse who has done more for his sport than Valegro. Ridden by Charlotte Dujardin, this remarkable gelding – known at home as Blueberry – made history time and time again. From Olympic gold medals to breaking world records for fun, he has done it all – and inspired an enormous, adoring fan base across the world.

Dressage enthusiasts in their thousands have followed the trio of Valegro, Charlotte and Carl Hester, and their glittering career trajectory. But far fewer will know how close the greatest team that British dressage has ever had came to ending, before it had even got off the ground.

Carl’s first glimpse of Valegro was as a rising three-year-old at the KWPN stallion show and grading in Ermelo in 2005.

“I was staying with Anne and Gertjan van Olst in the Netherlands, and Anne suggested we go to watch the grading – I’d never experienced one before,” remembers Carl.

“There were massive billboards all over Las Vegas with pictures of Valegro”
ROLY LUARD, CO-OWNER OF VALEGRO

Gertjan had