Valegro (born 5 July 2002) is a gelding ridden by the British equestrian

Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian, and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. In 2014 she held the complete se ...

in the sport of

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

. He stands and has the stable name of Blueberry. He is a double World Champion in Dressage, he won Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle at the World.

Career

Having joined

Carl Hester Carl Hester (born 29 June 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England) is a British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hest ...

's stable in

Newent Newent (; originally called "Noent") is a market town and civil parish in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The town is north-west of Gloucester. Its population was 5,073 at the 2001 census, rising to 5,207 in 2011, The population ...

, Gloucestershire as a

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and Groomsman, ...

, Dujardin was offered the opportunity to develop the novice Dutch Warmblood

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

by Hester and co-owner Roly Luard, with the later intention of the horse being ridden in competition by Hester. Valegro remained unbeaten since CDI Kapellen in January 2012. The combination became part of the team which won gold in a

European Dressage Championships The European Dressage Championships are the European championships for the equestrian discipline of dressage. They are held every two years in odd-numbered years. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded in both individual and team competitio ...

event in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. They then won the FEI World Cup grand prix at London Olympia in 2011, setting a world record for the Olympic grand prix special discipline scoring 88.022%, in April 2012. Selected to represent Great Britain in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, in the first round they set a new Olympic record of 83.784%. On 7 August 2012 the pair were members of the team which won the gold medal in the team dressage event. Two days later they won the gold in the individual dressage event with a score of 90.089%. At the 2013 European Championships in

Herning Herning () is a Denmark, Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,782 (1 January 2025)

, Charlotte and Valegro won both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special with 85.94% and 85.69%. At Olympia 2013 he beat the Grand Prix Freestyle world record (by around 2%) he set the new record to 93.975% (the record was previously held by Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas). At Olympia 2014 he improved his own Grand Prix Freestyle world record (94.3%) and his own Grand Prix world record (87.46%). Valegro also achieved a gold medal in the individual dressage at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a score of 93.857%, and was an integral part of the Silver medal winning Team for Great Britain, at the same event. In 2016 Breyer released a model of Valegro.

Retirement

On 14 December 2016, Valegro and Charlotte Dujardin marked his retirement from competition with a performance given at the London International Horse Show 2016 and televised live by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. It was followed by a farewell ceremony with Valegro's owners, and companions Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Alan Davies.

Breeding

Valegro is sired by the legendary KWPN stallion Negro, by Olympic Ferro.

Furioso II Furioso II (1965–1986) is one of the most influential sires in sport horse history. His offspring have performed well in all disciplines of show jumping, including at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona and 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney Olympic ...

is his great great damsire.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Valegro in action, 2016
(video) Dressage horses 2002 animal births Animal world record holders Horses in the Olympics Individual warmbloods

Career

Retirement

Breeding

See also

References

External links