Recalling London

THE response we have had from readers to our nostalgia special has been wonderful – thank you to all those who have written to express your enjoyment and to all those who submitted their memories and images for others to enjoy.

This week, and for three more issues thereafter, we take you back in time again – this time just eight years, to Greenwich, London, in 2012. Many of us may never witness another Olympics on home soil, but Greenwich, for horse lovers, did enough for a lifetime.

I remember walking to London Bridge station when Britain’s dressage riders were taking the world stage by storm, and seeing swarms of men in suits transfixed by a big screen showing “the dancing horses”.

And I was lucky enough to be in the stadium when Charlotte and Valegro clinched gold, the ultimate finale, which was a point for them, a point for British dressage and a point for harmony in dressage, their relaxed test being rewarded over Parzival’s mistake-free but tenser picture. It was the ultimate fairytale, the young star given the chance of a lifetime by Carl Hester, being given the ride on the best dressage horse we have ever seen, and making it count. She inspired a generation and rewarded many more generations of British dressage supporters.

I’ve been looking for a reason to use this picture on our front cover since I took on my role – the moment it all came together, the euphoria, the gratitude and the relief. She “just didn’t want to let anyone down”. Golly, she didn’t.

Sarah Jenkins Editor-in-Chief