9 January 2014

A record number of visitors attended the world’s best equine Christmas party last month; Olympia, the London International Horse Show which took place from 16 to 22 December 2013.

A total of 95,276 spectators flocked to London’s premier horse show in the famous West London venue to watch the equine extravaganza. Ticket sales were up 6% from 2012 and the additional Gala night on Monday 16 December bought an extra 6,000 people. Well known faces in attendance included HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Denise Lewis, England Rugby legends Ben Cohen and Phil Vickery, Deborah Meaden, Martin Clunes and Rory Bremner.

Highlights included FEI World Cups™ in three different disciplines; Dressage, Show Jumping and Driving, the thrilling Alltech Christmas Puissance won by Italian rider Luca Moneta and a breath-taking world record breaking Dressage performance by British superstars Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro.

The unique entertainment that always makes Olympia so magical, such as the Shetland Pony Grand National, the Kennel Club Dog Agility, the Services Jumping Championship, the vast shopping village and not forgetting the Christmas Finale were all back again. However, the icing on the cake undoubtedly came from Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art whose outstanding displays of horsemanship mesmerised spectators.  It was the first time that the stunning pure bred Andalusian horses from Jerez de la Frontera, south-west Spain have performed in the UK for over 40 years.

Dujardin breaks world record


Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro do a lap of honour after breaking the world record in the freestyle

The show started with a bang as sensational Dressage duo Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) and Valegro smashed the world record score in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle supported by Horse & Hound on the Tuesday evening performance. Spectators can claim to have experienced one of those spine tingling ‘I was there’ moments when the Olympic gold medallists performed to their famous ‘Great Escape’ music for the last time and accumulated a staggering score of 93.975%. The score beat the former world record of 92.3% set by Edward Gal and Totilas, also at Olympia, in 2009.

Charlotte, who now holds the world record for all three Grand Prix tests, said: “I can’t believe it – I am over the moon and just ecstatic. I really wanted to come here and see if I could break the record to this music and at Olympia. It has been such an incredible journey with Valegro – I have achieved so much more than I ever imagined.”