Married to the job!
Sorry Dean, Charlotte’s more bridle than bridal
AFTER claiming her third gold medal at the Rio Olympics, Charlotte Dujardin’s fiance of f i ve year s , Dean Goldi ng, showed off a sign seen by millions of viewers saying ‘Can we get married now?’
Another 18 months has passed and the pair have still not tied the knot. Sadly for Golding, he is still competing with her other loves — dressage and horses.
A wedding will happen but Dujardin would prefer a quiet affair.
‘I think we might just slip away somewhere and do it in private,’ she says. ‘ If I didn’t have as many horses to ride, I’d probably have a child now. But I’m competing with 11 horses and I’m enjoying travelling around the world to teach, so I just don’t have time.’
Dujardin’s current excuse comes in the shape of a horse they are calling ‘Mrs Valegro’, a nickname stemming from her prolific horse Valegro with which she won her three gold medals plus every major championship, breaking every world record.
Formally known as Mount St John Freestyle, her new star is a precocious mare that could just propel Dujardin and the British dressage team back to Olympic glory. ‘She’s spectacular and extremely talented,’ says Dujardin.
At just eight years old, the mare is only just stepping up to Grand Prix level yet Dujardin talks of ‘glimpses of brilliance’ that could put her back on the podium at this year’s FEI World Equestrian Games, in Tryon, North Carolina. It is fairly unusual to see mares competing at elite-level dressage but Dujardin says it is her attitude as well as her athleticism and ability that makes Mrs Valegro special. ‘She’s not afraid of anything. I rode her in a Masterclass to a full crowd at Olympia and she just wants to perform for the people the way Valegro did.’ As with Valegro, Dujardin has been training and establishing a partnership with this horse from a young age. ‘ I’ve been riding her for four years. Her breeder Emma Blundell said she had this horse that she didn’t think was quite good enough but wanted me to ride.
‘The first time I sat on her I just fell in love. It’s exciting because I didn’t think I’d ever find one to fill Valegro’s shoes.
‘ We have an animal that we have to work with and rely on: train to perfection and make them responsive, but they still need to show spirit and presence. Then all the time we’re riding we need to make it look like we’re doing nothing.
‘Establishing that relationship and teaching the movements, it takes six to eight years to get a horse to that level and most don’t get there.’
Despite not being on a British team this year, Dujardin remains a sporting hero . She says: ‘Life is still crazy. I was at Olympia doing signings and the queues were enormous and when I go to the US it’s the same. I sometimes have people meet me and burst into tears, surreal.
‘ The best bit i s that what Valegro and I did has been an inspiration to people. Before London 2012 no one knew what dressage was, but now we have massive recognition. People still stop me and ask “are you the girl with the dancing horse?”.’
Dujardin remained world No1 for several years but now is not in the top 500. She is determined to get back to the top and until then her South African boyfriend must wait in the wings.
Dujardin is an ambassador for The Brooke, a horse and donkey charity set up after World War Two for working animals.
‘I was approached by them and they asked if I wanted to go to t he US t o meet t he o t her ambassadors but I said I’d rather see their work in the field,’ she says. ‘So they let me go to India to see it first hand.
‘It was life-changing and I was shocked. We went to places of dire poverty and saw seriously underfed horses. But it was amazing to see the difference The Brooke makes. It was such an eye-opener and the problem is you don’t just want to save one, you want to save them all.’