‘He was difficult in the early days’: Carl Hester on Charlotte Dujardin’s Imhotep, and what it’s like not to be riding in Herning

One of the horses at the Blue Hors FEI World Dressage Championships that is generating the most excitement is Carl Hester and Coral Ingham’s Imhotep, the young ride of Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin.

Charlotte and Imhotep will kick off their World Dressage Championships campaign later today, as they ride the grand prix at 1.35pm (12.35pm BST), and Carl is as excited as anyone to see Imhotep, known as Pete, in action.

“Pete is mega; we are so exited about Pete,” he told H&H. “Every day he gets better. He’s never been a disappointing horse and I don’t see how he can be with the effort he puts into everything. His joy for life and zest for going is just incredible. He just never, ever, gives in the towel – he’s up for it all the time.

“He is a perfect match for Charlotte with the way she rides, and she has a perfect partner in him as he relishes it, and gets stuck in to everything. He’s hot, and he’s on edge out here, but he’s so young we have nothing to expect.”

But Pete certainly proved challenging in the early years, after Carl bought him from the Netherlands as a youngster, on the strength of a video.

“He was difficult to stay on in the young days. You can see it in the way he moves, how whole body moves – when Pete used to buck he’d really go for it. You never quite trusted Pete in the beginning, but he’s met his match in Charlotte,” said Carl, adding that, to date, Charlotte has never fallen off Pete. “They decided to get married instead of getting divorced!”

Carl Hester has several roles here at the World Dressage Championships – owner, trainer and commentator on the FEI TV live stream – but, for the first time since 2008, he will not be riding on the British championship team, after his top horse En Vogue suffered an injury earlier in the season .

While he admits it does feel strange not to be riding, and is looking forward to campaigning for the team with En Vogue next year, he is relishing his new role for this year – and the lack of pressure that comes with being part of a team pushing for medals.

“I think of how I feel every year and what I don’t look forward to about being in a competition atmosphere with a team, because we all know how much it means to each other for things not to go wrong – three scores have to be very good nowadays to be in the zone we need to be in,” he explained.

“Of course, that’s what sport’s about – it’s supposed to stir your emotions and it’s supposed to like make you feel hopefully good nerves, but I’m not sure mine always have been [good]. So it’s actually really nice to get to bed at night and sleep and I’m enjoying watching. Of course it’s easy to watch, and it’s easier to do the congratulations and the commiserations, but it’s part of our great support network and that’s what I’m enjoying about it.

“But of course it is a different feeling. The only time I have gone a bit off course and have had a bit of a pang [for riding] was when we had a team photo and I remembered that I wasn’t on the team and I had to move.”

You may also be interested in…

World Dressage Championships day two: what time do Charlotte Dujardin and Lottie Fry ride for Britain?

‘We’re ready for the battle’: see the Brits in action in Herning ahead of World Dressage Championships kick-off

British dressage team likely to be without Carl Hester for the first time in 14 years

How to watch the World Dressage Championships in Herning: your full guide

‘She’s proved she’s a world-class horse’: Gareth Hughes keeps Britain’s medal hopes alive in the World Dressage Championships grand prix

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