There is an “emptiness in the air” in the yard, Carl Hester said, as superstars Valegro and Uthopia have been put down, aged 23 and 24 respectively.
The legendary horses, who with Carl and Charlotte Dujardin changed the face of British dressage and “gave our sport a golden era”, were the best of friends throughout their lives; Carl said letting them go together was “the final act of loyalty and dignity I felt I could give them”.
“Sleep well Blueberry and Uti, two of the greatest horses of our generation,” he said.
“It is with immense sadness that we have said goodbye to Valegro and Uthopia and without question, this is a loss that just feels hard to comprehend.
“Trying to write a tribute to these two horses feels harder than I imagined. The yard just doesn’t feel the same without them, there’s an emptiness in the air.”
Valegro and Charlotte together won three Olympic gold medals; team and individual in 2012 and individual in 2016, when the team won silver. They won individual world gold in 2014, European gold in 2013 and 2015, and back-to-back World Cup Final titles – and broke just about every dressage record going.
Carl and Uthopia were also on the team that won Olympic gold in 2012; they also took team and European gold and individual silver in 2011 and team bronze in 2013.
“Valegro and Uthopia did more than win medals and write history, they gave our sport a golden era,” Carl said. “They both showed that greatness can be gentle, sensitive and harmonious and they made a nation proud and inspired so many.
“Being part of their journey will always remain one of my proudest achievements and the whole team and myself are deeply grateful for the joy they gave to us at home but also to their fans around the world.
“Their entire lives ran in parallel; they travelled to the shows side by side, lived in neighbouring stables, grazed in the same fields and retired together. Their bond and companionship were absolute.”
Carl said that as their years advanced, so too did their health challenges.
“So allowing them to leave this world together was the final act of loyalty and dignity I felt I could give them, honouring a partnership that had never been separated in life,” he said.
“They leave behind a huge void, and the yard has changed for ever and so have we. They were our family and I will love and miss them always. The impact they had will remain but sadly, we don’t get to keep horses forever.
“We only get to carry what they leave inside us. And these two left us so much.”
Do you have a special memory of Valegro or Uthopia that you’d like to share with other H&H readers? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com including your name, nearest town and county for the chance to have it published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine – plus don’t miss further tributes to Valegro and Uthopia in 11 December issue
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You may also be interested in:
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‘You are still so loved’: Charlotte Dujardin pays farewell tribute to her world record-breaking partner Valegro
‘They still know how to own the arena’: watch Valegro and Uthopia strutting their stuff in retirement
Carl Hester on double gold medallist Uthopia: ‘he feels like he’s 11, not 19’
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