Valegro and Uthopia have died, their owner and trainer Carl Hester announced today on social media.
The two Dutch Warmbloods, teammates under Hester and his protegé Charlotte Dujardin on the British Olympic team for the 2012 Olympics, were euthanized.
“As life as old boys advanced, so too did the 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,” Hester wrote.
Valegro, 23, (Negro—Maifleur, Gershwin) was the most decorated dressage horse in British history under Dujardin. A triple Olympic gold medalist (team and individual London 2012, individual Rio de Janeiro 2016), “Blueberry” still holds the world records for the Grand Prix, the special and the freestyle. His barnmate Uthopia, 24, (Metall—Odelia, Inspekteur), started with Hester and helped Great Britain to team gold in London before Dujardin took over the ride.
“You chose me,” Dujardin wrote Monday in a tribute to Valegro. “And I was forever yours. I don’t know why, or how, but I thank my lucky stars you did. Our story is one that anyone who’s ever loved a horse can relate to – far beyond the medals and the talent, the reason to keep going, the reason we get up in the morning and do what we do, for the simple love of a horse.
“You have been, and always will be, my one in a million and it has been the honour of my life to be not only your dance partner but best friend. The magic we had, no one can take from us, and we will dance again one day.”
