Jump straight to the latest news about Carl Hester
Carl Hester MBE is one of Britain’s most successful dressage riders. He is an Olympic gold medallist and multi-medallist at European and world championships. He is also the holder of 68 national dressage titles, and was crowned British national champion in 2019.
Carl grew up on the Channel Island of Sark, where his first mount was a donkey called Jacko. He moved to mainland Britain aged 16 to work at the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy in Dorset. Just 18 months after taking up dressage, Carl became national young rider champion.
In 1989, Carl started riding for the Bechtolsheimers. In his three and a half years with them, Carl went to the World Championships in 1990 and the European Championships in 1991 on Rubelit Von Unkenriff, as well as the 1992 Barcelona Olympics on Georgioni. Carl credits the Bechtolsheimers for setting him on his path to international success.
A top trainer as well as a competitor, Carl Hester is the mentor of the double Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin and part owner of the dressage wonderhorse Valegro. Carl has successfully trained numerous horses up to grand prix level dressage during his career. These include Uthopia, with whom he won gold medals at the European Championships in 2011 and the London 2012 Olympics, and Nip Tuck, on whom he won team silver medals at the 2014 World Equestrian Games (WEG), 2015 Europeans and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Carl’s current top horses are Hawtins Delicato and En Vogue. With the Diamond Hit son Delicato, Carl helped Britain win team bronze at WEG in Tryon in 2018. They were also part of the British team at the 2019 European Championships, where they finished ninth in the grand prix special.
Carl took over the ride on Charlotte Dujardin’s Jazz gelding En Vogue in spring 2020. The pair made their international debut at Keysoe CDI in October 2020, finishing third in the special. In 2021, they were part of the British team at the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo and took team bronze.
Carl Hester has a regular column in Horse & Hound magazine, which is also available to read online.
“He’s captured in a piaffe which is the most difficult thing you can do in dressage. This is probably what Valegro is most famous for and regularly scored perfect 10s for. It’s a classic picture – it’s a 10 statue of a 10 horse”
Lockdown training pays off for Charlotte Dujardin, young guns shine and Natasha Baker comes out on top
Charlotte Dujardin was on top form scoring a one-two, while Carl Hester made his international debut with his future team contender
With most of 2020’s international dressge scratched from the calendar, we can’t wait for next week’s CPEDI and CDI shows at Keysoe – and here’s why...
H&H’s dressage columnist is excited about the idea of having two championships next year
“He gave me a lovely ride – except for an unfortunate blip when he stopped for a poo in the middle of my two-tempi changes”
Enjoy these photos of Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin at home with some of their current upcoming superstars
H&H’s dressage columnist on great memories at Hickstead, and change needed in the sport
The virtual weekend will take place 4-6 September, the weekend the horse trials should have run, as organisers say they are ‘determined’ to mark the 2020 date
H&H’s dressage columnist discusses using a whip correctly and sticking to the Covid rules
H&H’s dressage columnist wonders whether the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead in 2021
Take a look at Carl and his 19-year-old London Olympics mount continuing to strutt their stuff at home
H&H’s dressage columnist on the benefits of stress-free schooling and generating income
‘Valegro II, according to Carl Hester, has all the attributes to make a top international prospect’
How well do you know the dressage supergroom? Here are nine things about Alan that you might not have known….
