Charlotte Dujardin & Mount St. John Freestyle Win Britain’s Horse of Year Show Future Elite Championship
7 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Charlotte Dujardin & Mount St. John Freestyle Win Britain’s Horse of Year Show Future Elite Championship
BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct. 5, 2017–Charlotte Dujardin rode Mount St. John Freestyle to what the organizers described as “a profound performance” to win the Horse of the Year Show Future Elite Championship less than three weeks after sweeping the British nationals at small tour.
Charlotte, the double Olympic individual gold medal winner on the now-retired Valegro, scored 84.916 per cent on the eight-year-old Hanoverian mare in the championship for eight to 10-year-old horses at Int. 1 freestyle. Charlotte won the same event on Hawtins Delicato in 2016.
Next year’s World Equestrian Games in North Carolina are a definite target for the horse, with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics then potentially following.
“Wherever I put her,” Charlotte said of Freestyle that may be a contender for next years World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina, “she is always the same. She is not afraid of anything. I feel she is so switched on and connected to what I am asking of her, and it just feels so effortless. There are not many shows when horses really get that kind of atmosphere or that exposure in big arenas. So for her to go in there and deliver the goods like she did, I was so proud of her.
“I am so lucky. I have 10 horses that I think are top horses. They are at different levels at the moment, and I am really excited. I am always hungry to win and keep producing those horses. For me, it is about finding that partnership and connection and training them to grand prix level, which to me is as important as winning gold medals. I have always been hungry for it and always wanted it a lot. I am very self-driven and motivated.
“I hope she can be a horse that is very exciting for Tokyo and hopefully get a medal. I think she is hopefully going to medal–I think she is good enough to medal, definitely. Next year is going to be her first year, hopefully, at grand prix, and then I am aiming her at the World Equestrian Games.
“She is just like Valegro. She takes everything in her stride, she is not fazed, she doesn’t stress, she doesn’t get at all worried about any situation no matter how much pressure you put on her. You can keep asking her questions, and she keeps answering them and keeps trying.”
Dressage Future Elite Championship
1. Charlotte Dujardin/MOUNT ST JOHN FREESTYLE 84.916%
2. Maria Eilberg/SAROTTI 77.5%
3. Sophie Wells/C FATAL ATTRACTION 76.375%
4. Vicky Thompson Winfield/ARTIST 73.29%
5. Sadie Smith/KEYSTONE DYNAMITE 71.25%
6. Dan Greenwood/CHEVALIER O/70.625%
7. Owen Cooper/DON DANTE 70.33%
8. Rebecca Cowderoy/CELICIA 69.375%
