At the 2023 LeMieux National Dressage Championships, Carl Hester and Lady Anne Evans’ exceptional En Vogue claimed the top spot in the LeMieux grand prix gold championship.
The prolific 14-year-old Jazz gelding led second-placed Becky Moody and Jagerbomb by over 4.5%, with a score of 76.74%.
“Vogue hasn’t been out for a while, but he produced a fairly clean test today,” said Carl, who recently returned from the European Dressage Championships where he won team gold with the Bigwood-Dahl family’s 13-year-old stallion Fame.
“The national championships signals the end of the season and I was looking forward to giving Vogue something to do. At the Europeans, Fame got all the glory he deserved, but Vogue has been on an equal footing all year and I’m glad he got to come here and prove himself. He deserves every moment of this and I wanted to give him his best chance today. Winning with him here was one of my end-of-season goals.”
Carl Hester on his National Dressage Championships winner
Carl believes En Vogue has improved tenfold over the past season, as he explained: “He might be 14, but this year he’s going the best he’s ever gone and he’s definitely more relaxed about things. Today, he really settled into his rhythm. Vogue finds the walks and rein-backs difficult as he’s always thinking about the next thing. But today he did the best rein-back he’s ever done.
“The best thing about him is his canter work. He’s so secure and strong in that pace. His pirouettes were also brilliant today. Overall, he was a pleasure to ride.
“Fame has the technical edge, but they’re both brilliant horses who want to work. They’re not horses you can just get on and do a grand prix with; they are both full-time jobs but they’re brilliant, talented horses.
“I couldn’t pick which one I prefer to ride,” Carl added. “They both have the same work ethic which is ‘let me do it, let me do it’ so it’s just a case of steering and calming, which suits me as that’s how I like riding.”
Carl had little time to turn around ahead of this year’s National Dressage Championships after his success at the Europeans last week: “We drove home through the night on Sunday, landing back home at 3am. I then had six horses to ride on Monday morning, before I had four lessons to teach. Then, I’ve been teaching lots of people ahead of the nationals. I haven’t had time to stop yet, but it’s all fine as I’m going on holiday next week!”
Meanwhile, the on-form combination of Katie Scott and her own Liverpool KS achieved an impressive victory in the BETTALIFE novice silver championship on 72.1%, just 24 hours after they secured glory in the elementary silver championship.
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Watch Carl Hester’s incredible grand prix test at European Dressage Championships
‘I thought I’d have to withdraw a week ago’: rider overcomes nightmare nationals prep to win first title
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