In the spring of 2012 Charlotte Dujardin, and her horse Valegro, came to Florida to compete in the Dressage Masters at the Jim Brandon Center. Some of us had heard of her but she was not well known outside of her native England. From what we saw we were impressed and we knew she would be a contender. But we did not know how exponential that growth would be.
London Olympics, August, 2012. I was lucky enough to be there with 22,000 other people to see this.
Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro were on the Gold Medal team for Great Britain. And…..they also won the individual gold medal. Here they are before the world’s press, in the center , the Gold Medal winners.
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HorseAddict 
I love her, big hero of mine. I like how she truly cares for Valegro, his health his mental well-being especially and how she knows it matters.
When she said in an interview that you need to find a good Walk and Canter because you can “make” a good trot, I suddenly realised;wow how right she is. It made me think back to all the horses I have owned and that the Walk was either naturally good or it wasn’t.
I would have loved to meet her before her fame. It must be hard with so much success to stay grounded, but I feel that she has from what I see of her.
I’m so glad you were there and have this memory. What a lovely moment to have in your mind as you pursue your goals.
Mel x
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I love your response! And how exciting it must have been to be there as Charlotte and Valegro won their gold!
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It was magic! 22,000 people and probably 15,000 were British so when her score went up we all flew up onto our feet and started cheering ( and I’m not even British!)
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Reblogged this on Dream Big, Dream Often.
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Thanks Danny!
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You are welcome!
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Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro were pretty amazing at the Olympics.
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They were indeed! It was a brilliant day to be at the arena in Greenwich when Charlotte won the individual gold. And the team had taken gold for the team medal. Britain was on top and had dethroned the Germans and the Dutch who had been on top forever! Charlotte’s music for her freestyle had “Land of Hope and Glory” for the extended canter and you could tell the Brits in the crowd of 22,000 could hardly remain in their seats when that music played. the atmosphere was electric. And we all had to wait while she walked with Valegro out of the arena and it was going to be so close as the Dutch rider had a tremendously good ride. Then they announced the score and the place erupted. I can honestly say I will never forget it.
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Wonderful!
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