London – December 14, 2016 – Great Britain’s equestrian dream team of Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro will close the competitive chapter of their partnership at a retirement ceremony held at the CDI-W London Olympia Horse Show. The pair performed a demonstration on Tuesday evening and they will take a final bow after the World Cup Freestyle class concludes on Wednesday.
“Valegro has been a horse of a lifetime. He is a complete legend,” Dujardin explained. “To think what this horse has achieved in the last four and five years I’ve been riding him at Grand Prix level, is absolutely incredible. If you wrote down what he has achieved, you would read it and not think it was possible. I owe it to him to finish off at the top. I want everyone to remember him the way he is.”
Dujardin and the 14-year- old KWPN gelding, owned by Carl and Roly Luard, hold world records for all three Grand Prix divisions. They defended their 2012 London Olympics gold medal title at their final competition together — the 2016 Rio Olympic Games — after topping the leader board with an impressive 93.857 percent in the Grand Prix Freestyle.
“It was one of those magical rides where you have that partnership, connection and bond with your horse and I just felt like nothing was going to break and everything just happened,” she explained after their Olympic performance in Brazil. “It felt so effortless and easy. He tried so hard and the last centerline was really emotional for me because I thought he could not have done anymore if he had tried.”
The World Cup Freestyle at the CDI- London Olympia Horse Show begins at 2:30 p.m. EST on FEI TV, and fans will bid farewell to the dressage legend, Valegro, in a retirement ceremony following the competition.
