‘It is all about proving I can do it again’

Charlotte Dujardin tells Pippa Field she wants to show with her new horse she is no one-hit wonder

She may be the golden girl of dressage, but Charlotte Dujardin is a rebel at heart. “If someone says I can’t do something, I need to do it. Just say the opposite to me,” claims Britain’s most successful Olympic equestrian athlete. From sneaking treats to her horses at her Gloucestershire yard to leaving her long-time fiancé Dean waiting when it comes to setting a wedding date, Dujardin is a woman who knows her own mind.

Fortunately, such a personality trait comes in useful in a sport the International Equestrian Federation describes as “the highest expression of horse training” or, as Dujardin puts it, “gymnastics with horses”.

“I took 10 horses to my national championships in September. I had 10 and all 10 won,” she recalls. “People were like ‘There’s no way you can ride that many horses at a championships’ and I was like ‘Yeah, I can’. I do like proving people wrong.”

But for Dujardin, the chance to lay down the biggest riposte of all will come in the next two years.

This is the woman, after all, who won all there was to win riding “once-in-a-lifetime” horse Valegro. Together, the duo broke world records like they were going out of fashion and cleaned up on the major titles, including back-to-back Olympic golds in London and Rio.

The famous gelding, nicknamed Blueberry, was retired from competition in December 2016, bringing an end to a four-year unbeaten run. But riding off into the sunset was never on the cards for Dujardin. Instead, the 33-year-old, during a year out of the international spotlight, set about discovering the horse who would help prove she was not just a one-hit wonder.

“My journey with Valegro was once in a lifetime. I could never repeat what I’ve done on him,” she says.

“I started not knowing anything, he knew nothing, we went along, we did everything along the way together. I think, for me, it was always about proving that I could do it again. I just want to keep coming out year after year with another horse and train them. That’s the thing I love doing.

“You’ve got to mould and find their buttons in a way. When you’ve done it yourself, every mistake is yours. You learn so much in doing it.

“For me, that’s what I absolutely love, having that challenge. It’s amazing what we can do with these animals.”

So she has settled on nine-year-old mare Mount St John Freestyle – or Freebie, as she calls her – giving her a competitive debut this year before taking her to the World Equestrian Games in September.

The plan was to keep it low key and “give her experience” of top-level competitions, but competitive instincts on the part of rider and horse kicked in and the pair went on to claim team and individual dressage bronze, relegating Germany’s Olympic team champion Sonke Rothenberger from the medal places in the latter.

“Being her first year, we just wanted to keep it quite easy,” says Dujardin.

“We weren’t sure whether she would be ready, but she is an incredible horse, she loves to work, and she loves to please, and she really did take it all in her stride.”

With medals come raised expectation levels and inevitable whisperings of whether Mount St John Freestyle can be Valegro mark II. Dujardin herself is wisened to the pitfalls of success and not expecting too much, too soon, for her new horse. “Poor Freestyle has a harder life to live, really. I didn’t really know before with training Blueberry how good it needed to be. I just did it. Now I’m thinking, ‘It needs to be this good’. Then I remember, ‘Oh gosh, don’t push her too much because she’s only nine’.” In her autobiography, The Girl On The Dancing Horse, released this year, Dujardin revealed the struggle with mental health she went through after her double gold with Valegro at London 2012. There was the prospect of her beloved horse being sold and a temporary split with Dean.

The three-time Olympic champion has had to get used to life in the spotlight, but it has not come easy. “Nerves used to get me a lot when I was younger and I first started out,” she adds. “I actually had sports psychology to get myself through that. I still have it now, more so for dealing with the media. “I had never experienced anything like it after London. I would have been asked a question and I would have forgotten what you asked me. I was that nervous I wanted to pass out.”

Pressure can do strange things to people, but it is clear Dujardin’s sanctuary is being surrounded by her horses.

On Tuesday, she will be back at the Olympia Horse Show in London, performing with Mount St John Freestyle in the FEI World Cup Dressage Freestyle competition.

“I ride best when I have the most pressure. I actually thrive off that,

I like to go in and feel like there is something really to get,” she says.

“I’m not so good at the smaller shows because I’m a bit blase about it. When I’ve got big shows, big competitions, big atmosphere, huge pressure, it’s best for me.

“I love Olympia, it’s the show of the year. As you ride round the outside of the arena, you feel like people are on top of you. It does take quite a special horse to deal with that environment.”

As for Tokyo 2020, Dujardin knows winning another Olympic gold would banish once and for all any suggestions she is a “one-horse wonder”.

“I’d love to keep going for as many Olympics as I can really,” she concludes. “That’s the great thing with our sport. As long as we’re fit and healthy, we can keep going on and on.”

Interestingly, Germany’s Isabell Werth, 49, who beat Dujardin to the title at the World Equestrian Games, has 10 Olympic medals spanning 24 years – the most by any equestrian athlete. Perhaps another challenge for headstrong Dujardin?