Two successful animals dead
Mourning for record horse Valegro and gold stallion Uthopia
12/02/2025 – 2:01 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Valegro and Uthopia were two well-known horses in equestrian sports. Now both have died. The sadness is great.
Valegro was considered an exceptional horse in dressage sport – now the gelding has died at the age of 23. The British rider Charlotte Dujardin announced this on social networks. Carl Hester’s golden stallion Uthopia also died at the age of 24. Both horses were apparently euthanized together.
“I knew, of course, that this day would come,” Dujardin wrote. “But I don’t think I could ever be ready for it. I’ve never been on a horse like you, Blueberry.”
Hester paid tribute to both horses, saying: “Valegro and Uthopia did more than win medals and make history, they gave our sport a golden era.”
Together with Valegro, Dujardin became a multiple Olympic champion. The international breakthrough came in 2011 with European Championship team gold – the first for a British dressage team. This was followed by Olympic gold in 2012 in London, individual gold in 2014 at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy and 2016 in Rio.
To this day, the duo holds several world records. In the three most important competitions – Grand Prix, Special and Freestyle – they achieved their highest scores ever. Outstanding: 94.300 percent in the 2014 freestyle in London.