Valegromania is running high as his final waltz and official retirement from competition sport are rapidly approaching and scheduled to take place at the 2016 CDI-W London Olympia Horse Show on Wednesday 14 December 2016.
At the moment Valegro news, videoclips and interviews with owner Carl Hester, rider Charlotte Dujardin and groom Alan Davies run rampant. Valegro is more dominant on social media than Santa Claus with the double Olympic champion set to bow out tomorrow.
Tickets for the retirement ceremony sold out months ago and as the press is flocking together at Olympia, the accreditation office is rejecting numerous applications for accreditation at the door.
“Yes it’s going to be emotional, Charlotte Dujardin told The Telegraph. “It’s the first time many of his fans have seen him perform in this country since London 2012. And now it’s the last time. So it might get tearful. On the other hand, we don’t have to get too upset. He’s not dying. He’s just stopping doing competitions.”
Dujardin and Hester decided that Valegro should be retired at the peak of his career and not drag him on to more shows for the glorification of the ego.
“I think possibly if I’d done another year, I could have won more, I could have broken more records,” Dujardin explained. “But I’ve already done so much, why push it? What is the point of doing that? What I’ve already achieved has been incredible, why be greedy and push him even more? Give him the chance to relax, go round the country as an ambassador for dressage, getting a hero’s welcome wherever he goes. Given what he’s done for the sport, it’s the least he deserves.”
Dujardin will now have to look for new horses and talent that can put her back at the top of her game. “I’m still as hungry, if not more so. I don’t want to be known as a one-trick…” and she pauses for a moment, keen not to use the term that most obviously springs to mind “…rider."
Dujardin is eager to prove her worth as a rider and trainer, as well as an eye for spotting talent in a young horse. Will she join the ranks of the one-trick riders such as Nicole Uphoff (Rembrandt) and many more, or will she join the league of riders who are able to reclaim glory and success on other horses such as Reiner Klimke, Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven? Time will tell.
Photos © Astrid Appels
Related Links
Valegro To Be Retired at 2016 CDI-W London Olympia Horse Show
Valegro Draws the Crowds for U.S. Farewell Demonstration at 2016 CDI New York
Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro Do the Samba and Win Second Individual Gold at 2016 Olympic Games