Charlotte Dujardin: Record breaking dressage rider

Only five short years ago, Charlotte Dujardin was a young jockey trying to make it to the top. Wanting to move forward with her career, she turned to renowned dressage trainer Carl Hester for help. At only 20 years old, Charlotte had never even sat on a dressage horse, and wasn't exactly what Carl was looking for in a student, but there was somthing about her that sparked his interest, and the two started working together.

And sure enough, they did well, both of them qualifing for the 2012 London Olympics. However, 45 year old veteran rider Carl Hester was not the one who won gold for the Great Britan team, but young Charlotte Dujardin who topped off the leader board with an 83.286%, well above her trainers 80.571%, awarding both of the riders the top two placings for the first day of competition.

Charlotte and Valegro

The next day of competition, Charlotte and her horse Valegro broke the world record olympic dressage score, scoring over 4% more than her first test and making their mark on the dressage world, and scoring the final medals needed to give Great Britan the lead in golds.

Most dressage riders in the olympics are veterans and have been to more than one Olympic games, have been riding dressage for years and have been with their equine partners for a very long time. For someone like Charlotte to rise to the top of the dressage world with her horse in such a short time is truely inspiring. From having never sat on a dressage horse until five years ago, to winning Olympic gold this year and breaking the Olympic record at only 25, she is truely an inspiriation to dressage riders around the world and will be a rider to watch out for for many years to come!

Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester