Carl Hester at Hartpury UK Festival of Dressage Carl began by talking about how horses should move, not be in a box all day. He explained that he likes to put his horses out in the field every day, because nature designed horses to spend most of their life moving. by Wendy Barker Hartp ury College holds a fantastic F estival of D ressage in J uly each year, and this year at the Saturday evening G ala D inner, the world renowned O lymp ic gold medallist, Carl Hester, gave a wonderful D ressage Presentation with Charlotte D uj ardin ( dual gold medallist at the London O lymp ics) , and Katherine Bateson- Chandler ( USA W orld Equestrian G ames T eam rider in 2 0 1 0 ) riding horses that are training at Carl’ s yard in G loucestershire. T his was the lead up to the G rand Prix Kur where Charlotte rode a fabulous F reestyle on Uthop ia to win on 8 2 .6 3 % ! Choosing a Horse ‘Horses won’t be spectacular when they are young – just look for 3 good natural paces that can be developed through training the strength and submission… a Dressage horse should have a good walk, it’s a free mark in a test, and it always has a double coefficient.’ He emphasised the importance of rhythm, stretching and straightness in training, saying a mirror is essential for a Dressage rider, not for clothes or makeup, but to check the horse’s straightness. He reminded us that most horses need more bending to the left, and more straightening to the right. In 2009, Carl and his new ride, Uthopia, achieved results of 76.11% at Premier League PSG and CDI Inter 1 winning with 76.66%. The trail of success continued with him being part of the silver medal winning team at the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games in Kentucky on Liebling II. In 2011, he won a historic team gold medal at the 2011 European Championships in Rotterdam, as well as achieving individual silver medals in the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle with the exciting Uthopia. The pair rounded off last year with stunning performances in the ground breaking British team at the London Olympics, with scores of 75.44% in the Grand Prix and 83.45% in the freestyle, to win team gold on Uthopia. While Carl has rightfully earned the reputation as one of the greatest Dressage riders of our time, his incredible skill as a trainer is also acknowledged inte rnationally. From winning Dressage Trainer of the Year in 1997 to coaching protégée Charlotte Dujardin to double gold at the Olympics last year, Carl continues to grow as a trainer. Horses should Move When Carl’s horses are stabled at a big event for many days, as at the CDI3* in Hartpury, or at the Olympics in London, they are taken out 3 or 4 times a day, eg for a 20-30 minute ride to loosen and stretch them, later on hacked out if possible or led out for a pick, later again they will do some training in the arena in preparation for their competition. U K gold medallist D ressage star, C arl Hester, will be deliv ering the S pecialist D ressage C linic at Eq uitana S ydney ev ent this year. Forty four year old Carl, born on the Isle of Sark, is one of Britain,s leading international riders in the sport of dressage, currently ranked number two in the FEI World Individual Dressage Rankings. He began his dressage career in style, winning the 1985 National Young Rider Championship just 18 months after taking up dressage. In his competition career as a senior, Carl amassed a record of 63 National Dressage Titles and taken out the British Dressage National Championship seven times. He has competed in four Olympics, one World Equestrian Games, four European Championships and has reached one World Cup Final. From his first Olympic competition at Athens in 2004, where he and Escapado were the highest - placed British combination, through to the many championship wins and the heartbreak in 2008 when both his Olympic contenders ended up out of the running due to injuries, Carl has continued his upward march.