Dimensions
162 x 240 x 29mm
Greenwich 2012, the Olympic games in London. Charlotte Dujardin enters the ring riding the Dutch warmblood Valegro for the individual dressage event. Working through a series of intricate movements, they have the audience spellbound. Just over 6 minutes later and the pair had delivered a routine with a score of 90.089%. It was an Olympic record and only the third score in history over 90 per cent. The world was captivated. Charlotte Dujardin had been riding since the age of two and competing since the age of three. But whilst her talent was obvious, dressage was not an easy career. With its aristocratic heritage and astronomic cost, dressage was the stomping ground of the mega-rich. Not the life a girl from a middleclass family was born into. With an unquenchable determination and huge sacrifice from her parents, age 16 Dujardin left school, competing in as many competitions as she could. At 22 she was invited to be a groom at Carl Hester's yard in Gloucestershire. Valegro is a Dark Bay who stands at 16.2hh. With a large canter, an explosive energy and a tendency to shake his head with nerves, Valegro was not the elegant dressage horse Carl Hester had hoped he would be. His groom, Dujardin was asked to train him, to get him to a level that Carl could ride him. But groom and horse had an almost telepathic connection and Charlotte was soon putting Valegro through unconventional and unbelievably challenging routines. His hot energy and her athletic determination became a firebrand partnership. This is the story of how an outsider and her unruly horse changed the world of equestrian sport.
