Charlotte Dujardin could become Britain’s most decorated female athlete of all time if she wins a medal of any colour at the Paris Olympics – but as she tells Horse & Hound it’s not the records and statistics that drive her.
“I don’t really think about that,” she confesses. “My job is to go out there and do my best, which is what I try to do each time I compete.
“It’s such an honour and a privilege to be able to ride for your country but at the end of the day, that centre line is no different to any other centre line I’m going to ride down and I won’t change my approach just because it’s an Olympics.
“I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I’ll just go in and ride the best test I can. That’s good enough for me – everything else is a bonus.”
Rather than the records or medals, it’s when she’s talking about the horses that Charlotte lights up the most.
“My work is my passion – I love it, and I love developing horses through the levels,” she explains.
This summer she’ll be riding Imhotep – or “Pete” as he is known at home.
“He’s taken on so much as a young horse,” she adds “He went to the World Championships as a nine-year-old, then the Europeans last year at 10 and now coming to the Olympics at 11.
“He’s incredible and he’s getting better and better. He’s a bit of a difficult shape but he has so much heart and he’s so talented in the piaffe, the passage, and pirouettes.
“I’ve then also trained my reserve horse Alive And Kicking to grand prix as well as Carl’s reserve horse En Vogue and then Freestyle who will be competing for Denmark with Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour.
“Gio, my ride at Tokyo was also longlisted for Paris with Annabella Pidgley.
“That’s a lot of horses, and it was only until someone pointed out to me how many top-level horses I’ve trained that I thought, ‘Oh God, I have actually done a really good job’.”
Since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Charlotte has become a mother, with daughter Isabella born in March 2023.
She said becoming a parent had changed her perspective on competing.
“Trying to make Isabella proud and having her there means the world to me, knowing that one day she’ll be able to watch it all back and see what I’ve achieved. I hope it will inspire her,” she says.
“Whether it’s in dressage or some other sport, I hope to be a good example.
“That’s what it’s all about, inspiring the younger generations to be active and to take up and follow their dreams.
“I know in dressage everyone says you need loads of money to do the sport but I came from not a lot and I’ve managed to achieve what I’ve achieved through working hard – so I’d say don’t listen to people who say you can’t.”
To read our exclusive interview with Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester in full, read this week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine, in shops from 18 July.
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