“I don’t really think about that,” she confesses. “My job is to go out there and do my best, which is what I try to do each time I compete.
“It’s such an honour and a privilege to be able to ride for your country but at the end of the day, that centre line is no different to any other centre line I’m going to ride down and I won’t change my approach just because it’s an Olympics.
“I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I’ll just go in and ride the best test I can. That’s good enough for me – everything else is a bonus.”
Rather than the records or medals, it’s when she’s talking about the horses that Charlotte lights up the most.
“My work is my passion – I love it, and I love developing horses through the levels,” she explains.
This summer she’ll be riding Imhotep – or “Pete” as he is known at home.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“He’s taken on so much as a young horse,” she adds “He went to the World Championships as a nine-year-old, then the Europeans last year at 10 and now coming to the Olympics at 11.
“He’s incredible and he’s getting better and better. He’s a bit of a difficult shape but he has so much heart and he’s so talented in the piaffe, the passage, and pirouettes.
“That’s a lot of horses, and it was only until someone pointed out to me how many top-level horses I’ve trained that I thought, ‘Oh God, I have actually done a really good job’.”
Charlotte Dujardin on competing at the Paris Olympics as a mother
Since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Charlotte has become a mother, with daughter Isabella born in March 2023.
She said becoming a parent had changed her perspective on competing.
“Trying to make Isabella proud and having her there means the world to me, knowing that one day she’ll be able to watch it all back and see what I’ve achieved. I hope it will inspire her,” she says.
“Whether it’s in dressage or some other sport, I hope to be a good example.
“That’s what it’s all about, inspiring the younger generations to be active and to take up and follow their dreams.
“I know in dressage everyone says you need loads of money to do the sport but I came from not a lot and I’ve managed to achieve what I’ve achieved through working hard – so I’d say don’t listen to people who say you can’t.”
To read our exclusive interview with Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester in full, read this week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine, in shops from 18 July.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the Paris Olympics, Royal International, Burghley and more with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
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).
