A bronze statue that is half life-size will stand as a tribute to the marvelous dressage horse Valegro, three-time Olympic gold and two-time world championships gold winner.
The statue will go up in Newent, a small town in Great Britain’s Gloucestershire, where he is stabled. Will his rider Charlotte Dujardin get her own statue next?
Valegro gave dressage an enormous popularity boost with his grace and style. (Photo © 2015 by Nancy Jaffer)
No word on that (there’s already a gold-plated mailbox in town to commemorate Charlotte’s achievement) but an application was submitted by the Newent Initiative Trust to erect Valero’s statue. Plans call for the statue of the 18-year-old gelding to become a visitor destination in the town first mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book.
Valegro and Charlotte won the Grand Prix Special and the Freestyle at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, and Olympic titles in the team and individual dressage in the 2012 London Olympics, as well as the individual gold at Rio in 2016 before the horse retired in a moving ceremony at Olympia.