Carl Hester admitted it had been a week of “very, very different emotions” as the British dressage team put the Charlotte Dujardin story to one side to claim Olympic bronze in the Grand Prix Special.
Dujardin had been due to join her mentor Hester and Charlotte Fry in competition at the Chateau de Versailles, but the three-times gold medallist withdrew from Paris just days before the opening ceremony.
She was also provisionally suspended by equestrian’s governing body, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), pending an investigation into a video from four years ago which showed her repeatedly hitting a student’s horse with a whip from the ground during a coaching session.
After describing his “shock” when competition began earlier in the week, Hester felt his seventh Olympics had proved the most testing yet for a variety of reasons.
He said: “For no particular reason, every one does get tougher, because of the expectations, the delivery and how you feel like the world watches you nowadays in sport and the fact of not letting anybody down. It’s been a week of very, very different emotions for everybody.
“Luckily for us, if you’re a competitor and a horse person, once you’re on your horse it all disappears. It’s the 23 hours between every day when you’re not riding that you’re left to think about the whole thing, the competition and the sport, so that’s why it gets more difficult.”
The British team qualified in third place behind Germany and Denmark and the sides finished in that order in a close final.
Dujardin’s replacement Becky Moody got the team off to a fine start scoring 76.489 per cent aboard Jagerbomb, with Hester next up on Fame to secure a mark of 76.520 per cent. Fry was last to ride for Team GB with Glamourdale and she was given 79.483 per cent.
The British team have won medals at each of the last three Olympics, winning gold at London 2012, silver in Rio four years later and then bronze in Tokyo with Dujardin leading the charge each time, but Hester felt it was significant to see the side achieve success without her presence.
He said: “I think it’s important we’ve done that because of how much she won and contributed to a team. I think a lot of people felt that if Charlotte wasn’t on the team, we possibly would not be successful.
“Let’s face it, if the same people are on the team all the time, it’s not the greatest inspiration for kids coming up.”
When asked if Dujardin had offered her congratulations, Hester replied: “I haven’t had my phone with me.
“I kept off my phone all day because you do get clogged up with family and friends, people at home and everything. I will spend an hour on my phone tonight and see what’s going on.”
Hester competed at his first Olympics in 1992 and now aged 57, he does not anticipate many more days of glory in the saddle.
He said: “I don’t say the it (retirement) because you just don’t know how you’re going to feel, but I feel I’ve done enough.
“Luckily for me it doesn’t mean an end because of the coaching. I get as much pleasure watching these guys – that’s just age isn’t it? You just don’t care about the winning so much but I care about the sport and these guys.
“Whichever way I go after here doesn’t mean I won’t be involved, but the riding, I’m think I’m nearly at the end of the wire now with that.”
Jason Brautigam, chief executive of British Dressage, praised the team’s achievement in a post on X, saying: “So proud of this team. To still go on to win a bronze medal after everything that has happened over the last two weeks is nothing short of incredible. Hard earned and much deserved.”
All three horses and riders will compete in the individual Grand Prix Freestyle on Sunday.
