VALEGRO is to be officially retired at Olympia, the London International Horse Show, on Wednesday, December 14th in what is sure to be an emotional finale for the double Olympic champion.

Charlotte Dujardin’s stellar partner will bow out in a special retirement ceremony after the FEI World Cup Dressage Freestyle competition in the Grand Hall at the British venue.

Dujardin said: “Valegro is a once in a lifetime horse and owes us nothing. I can’t wait to take him to Olympia and give him the send-off he deserves.”

Carl Hester explained the decision: “Valegro has done it all and we want him to go out in style!

“What better place than at Olympia – he loves the arena and being so close to the crowd. It is where he and Charlotte broke the world record in 2014 and it is the perfect place for our loyal British fans to say their farewell.”

Show director Simon Brooks-Ward added: “We are honoured that Charlotte and Carl have chosen Olympia as the place to retireValegro. He is a true legend of equestrian sport and we will make sure that he has the perfect send-off. We wanted as many people as possible to have the opportunity to seeValegro and hope that his fans are able to make one of the performances.”

Tickets can be booked online at visit www.olympiahorseshow.com or by calling 0044 871 230 5580. For those who are unable to purchase tickets for the Wednesday evening performance, the audience in attendance on Tuesday, December 13th will be treated to a question and answer session with Hester and Dujardin.

Olympia will host three FEI World Cup competitions in carriage driving, dressage and show jumping next month, with dressage taking place on December 13th-14th, driving on December 16th-17th and Longines FEI World Cup Jumping on Sunday, December 18th. The climax of the seven-day equestrian extravaganza will be the Olympia Grand Prix on Monday, December 19th.