Charlotte Dujardin

You can't do the same thing every day with the horse. Because they then know the thing inside out, and they're leading you, not the other way round. You don't want them to take over. You have to be able to ride the movements and set the movements up; you don't want them starting before you are ready. ”

I've had dreams - there were three things I wanted to do during my career. I did them during my first year of Grand Prix. ”

It's been an absolute rollercoaster. The things I've done, I didn't even dream of doing or achieving. ”

I started as a working pupil in a yard, mucking out and doing all the duties... and I just never gave up on my dream. ”

For most athletes, there's a focus on your own fitness, but I have to rely on my horse, too. I've been very lucky so far, and it hasn't presented a problem, but you can never count on a competition going as planned until you're there and actually doing it. ”

The sport is about finding the horses. But to find another Valegro is impossible. ”

I get called 'the girl off the dancing horse.' I just laugh; I think it's really funny. It's true, isn't it? It's great we're getting that recognition. ”

My family didn't have lots of money or anything. ”

My first ambition was to be a show jumper. I did a bit of dressage as part of it, and the dressage trainer saw me and said, 'Why are you wasting your time with the other stuff? You should be concentrating on this.' ”

I think it's really strange for somebody that's probably never been in the public eye. All of a sudden I was 'big time' - boom, it all just happened. ”