‘We’re not going in that corner!’ Carl Hester’s wild Bowie finale in Aachen – and his verdict on retirement
Carl Hester and Fame’s David Bowie mash-up at the dressage World Championships was a wild ride. Here’s Carl's verdict on the test, the championships as a whole, and whether an eighth Olympics – and a new record – might be next
Carl Hester and Fame rounded out their World Dressage Championships scoring 82.3% in the freestyle with their new David Bowie-themed routine to take seventh place.
In the cauldron of Aachen’s main arena under the lights, Fame gave Carl quite a round and looked hot and on edge at times. Carl had to use all of his horsemanship to keep it all together – with Fame spooking a couple of times.
Carl joked afterwards that Fame was a completely different horse to the one he’d planned for. “He was a totally different horse to work with today – I don’t know what got into him!
“He’s obviously feeling well – it’s cooler at night, he was a little bit spooking at shadows, all that sort of thing. It was like Fame from four years ago. He was looking for everything. Every time I turned right, there was a speaker in front of him, and he was like, ‘We’re not going in that corner!’
“Down the other end, another speaker in front of me – not going in that corner either. What can you do? You do all the arena walks in the world to prepare for it, but nothing gives you that feeling of what you get with 40,000 people in the stands. You can’t replicate that.”
It meant tearing up the plan on the fly. “It really was a freestyle – I just thought, I’ve got to get to a place in the arena where I can actually do something,” he laughed. “He’s great fun like that; I just wish he hadn’t done it at the World Championships.
“He's great fun to ride like that, because I’m literally just steering with my legs, like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa!’ Great fun, but obviously it’s not going to bring me into contention.”
Carl barely had time to enjoy the occasion itself.
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“I didn’t have a moment to take it in, because he was so freaking spicy – I just couldn’t, I had to keep concentrating on where I could get to and calming him down,” he said.
“But I could feel it as I was going around, and you can hear it too – every time he did something, the crowd made more noise, and he got more oomph off the back of it. I shan’t watch that one back – I’ve got the other two tests to watch and enjoy.”
Even so, there was no disappointment in Carl’s voice when looking back on it.
“I’m not disappointed at all, because I’ve had an amazing week – he’s been fantastic all week, and without him, the team would be struggling.
“We need every single one of those horses and he’s proved again this week what a competitive horse he is – top 10 in all three tests at a World Championships. I can't complain.”
Asked to reflect on the championship as a whole, Carl was full of gratitude for the team around him. “As usual, I’m glad it’s over. It’s been a long year to get here, and it’s been another successful year for British dressage, which I couldn’t be more grateful for – our support team, the owners, everyone, we’ve got an army out here with us” he said.
“But I shall be in my car at 6 o'clock in the morning, and I’m looking forward to Sunday lunch at home tomorrow with my dogs – that’ll make my life complete.”
Carl had nothing but praise for his gold medal winner Lottie Fry.
“I have to say, I love the way Lottie’s fought back to be number one. I think her style’s changed a little more towards the softness people are looking for, and I really think her training and riding this week has definitely been worth the gold medal,” he said. “Last year they had to re-evaluate where it was all going, and they’ve come back stronger this year – fantastic to see for her too.”
Will we see Carl at more championships?
And, inevitably, with qualification for the 2028 LA Olympics now secured, the questions turned to his future – can we expect to see Carl there? If so, he’d set a new record, becoming the first rider to represent Team GB at an eighth Olympic Games.
“I have said nothing [about retirement]. And that’s the plan – I’ve said nothing, and I’m going to continue to do that. So if you ever read anything about me retiring, it’s definitely not from my mouth,” he said.
“But it's year to year now, isn’t it? My age, the horse’s age, you don’t know where the next one’s going to come from. I’ve got a lovely one at home coming up. I’ll just chip away and enjoy some shows again next year.
“It’s great that Fiona [Bigwood]’s got her horse up to this level now too, because it’s nice to have someone to travel to shows with. I’ve actually enjoyed some of my shows this year, because I’ve taken the pressure off it always being a championship and just gone and ridden for fun.”
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).