Horse Hound – 11 December 2025

Summary

Horse & Hound 11 December 2025 (Volume CXLII, Issue 50) carries the cover HORSE WORLD MOURNS LEGENDS — Two legends — Valegro (2002-2025), the double Olympic champion, with groom Alan Davies's line "He was magnetic – everyone was drawn to him."

The two horses were put down on 1 December, announced by Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin: Valegro aged 23 and Uthopia aged 24. At home they were Blueberry and Uti, living out their retirement together in adjacent stables on Carl's yard and grazing the same grass.

The record is the issue's spine: the first European team gold at Rotterdam in 2011, the first British Olympic team gold at London 2012 with individual gold at 90.09% in the freestyle, and Rio, where Charlotte and Valegro defended their individual title and took team silver.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.16 · Farewell to Britain's greatest / Looking back
Valegro and Uthopia were put down on 1 December, announced by Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, aged 23 and 24. At home they were Blueberry and Uti, and they spent retirement together in Carl's yard in adjacent stables, grazing the same fields. Carl Hester says their "lives ran in parallel" — they travelled to shows together, lived next door to each other, ate grass in the same field and retired together — and that "They did more than win medals, they gave our sport a golden era." Charlotte Dujardin says she has never ridden a horse like Blueberry, that "It was always your heart and mind that made you the best," and "we danced Blueberry, didn't we dance." Two lives in parallel is the line that makes the tribute. Read it before the year ends.

The record
At the 2011 European Championships in Rotterdam, Valegro helped Britain win its first European team gold. At London 2012 he helped Britain win its first Olympic team gold, with Charlotte taking individual gold, scoring 90.09% in the freestyle. At Rio, Charlotte and Valegro defended their individual title and took team silver. Ninety point zero nine per cent is the number the sport is measured by. Watch one London 2012 freestyle before you read anything else.

The voices
Groom Alan Davies calls Uthopia "an absolute superstar," "only tiny, but he rose to the occasion," recalling the Swarovski show in Austria before London where Uti won the grand prix special and Blueberry was second, and calls him "a little powerhouse." Lucinda Green, six times a Badminton winner, rode Valegro in a lesson and calls him "an absolute sweetheart to ride," remembering the London 2012 freestyle with its music and Big Ben. Jason Brautigam, chief executive of British Dressage, says the London performance "will live long in the memory of fans" and that the two horses "redefined dressage." A groom's memory is the tribute riders believe. Ask anyone who worked with your own horse what they remember.

▸ News

p.4 · Horse world mourns two legends
The news of the two horses' deaths, announced by Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin (Becky Murray). News pages are where a sport marks its losses. Read the full tribute before the next season.

p.8 · Event rider's genuine remorse for abuse case
An event rider expresses remorse in an abuse case. Welfare cases are the news the sport must not soften. Read the full report before you form a view.

p.9 · Hot summer means higher worm counts
A hot summer has driven worm counts up. Worming is the health task owners guess at most. Ask your vet for a worm egg count before you dose.

Horses in the news
DSP Fighting Line, the championship ride of Austrian eventer Lea Siegl from junior teams through Olympics and World Championships, retired at 18. Hawk Wing, who gave trainer Aidan O'Brien his first Lockinge win in 2003, has died aged 26; he won the 2002 Eclipse Stakes and was second in The Derby and the 2000 Guineas. Twenty-six is the age a racehorse's life is measured against. Name one of these horses before the next season.

▸ Opinion and People

p.12 · Letters of the week
Reader letters run here. Letters are where a magazine's community shows. Send one letter this week.

p.14 · Dressage — Pammy Hutton
Pammy Hutton writes the dressage column. Named columnists make opinion accountable. Take one point into your next test.

p.20 · All in a day's work — BEVA president / Imogen Burrows
Imogen Burrows, president of the British Equine Veterinary Association, is profiled, on prioritising collaboration. Vets leading on collaboration is the story owners rarely hear. Ask one vet what collaboration would change for your horse.

p.74 · Goodnight — Tessa Waugh's hunting diary
Tessa Waugh closes with her hunting diary. Her diary is the most honest writing in the issue. Read it last, as the editor intends.

▸ Vet Special

p.22 · When every second counts — Transporting sick horses in an emergency
The vet clinic covers emergency transport of sick horses. Emergency transport is the decision owners make in panic. Write one emergency plan down before you need it.

p.38 · Lymphoma — The common equine cancer with a tricky diagnosis
Lymphoma is covered as the common equine cancer with a difficult diagnosis. Cancer is the diagnosis owners fear most. Check one lump you have been ignoring this week.

p.40 · Growing pains — Degenerative joint diseases in young horses
Degenerative joint disease in young horses is explained. Young horse joints are the problem that ends careers before they start. Ask your vet one question about your young horse's joints.

▸ Property, Kit and London

p.26 · Handy for raceday — Homes near the local track
Property near racecourses. Property pages tell you who a magazine thinks its readers are. Compare one location with your own yard.

p.28 · Additional protection — Body protectors
Body protectors for home and competition riding. Body protectors are the equipment that changes outcomes in a fall. Check your own protector's standard this week.

p.30 · You saw them here first… — London legends
Showjumping and showing legends who started at London, with Jack and Michael Whitaker at Olympia 2013 pictured. London is where careers are made. Watch one Olympia round before the show.

p.34 · Dressage's Christmas home
How dressage came to Britain's capital. History is the page that makes a magazine worth keeping. Read it before the London show.

▸ Hunting, Reports and Offers

p.46-50 · Hunting
Anthony Martyn of the Glamorgan at p46, the Yeomanry Wide Report at p48, and Hunter of a lifetime Ed at p50. Day reports are the closest thing to being out. Read one before planning a meet.

p.52-64 · Reports
Showing at p52, dressage at p58, showjumping at p60, and racing and point-to-point at p64. Reports are the results service readers rely on. Check one result against your own entries.

p.44 · Gift subscription
A Christmas gift subscription is offered at p44. Gift subscriptions are the offer a December issue exists for. Buy one for a rider you know.

▸ Advertising — Dengie

Alfa-A Oil
Dengie advertises Alfa-A Oil, High Calorie, Low Starch, Straw & Molasses Free, endorsed by international dressage rider and trainer Lewis Carrier, with the nutritional helpline on 01621 841 188 and www.dengie.com. Sponsored riders are not evidence on their own. Ask your vet before you change any feed.

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Editor's Take

The tribute is the reason Horse & Hound 11 December 2025 will be kept for decades: Valegro at 23 and Uthopia at 24, put down together on 1 December, known at home as Blueberry and Uti, with Carl Hester's "lives ran in parallel" and "they gave our sport a golden era," Charlotte's "we danced Blueberry," Alan Davies on Uti winning the grand prix special at the Swarovski show in Austria with Blueberry second, and Lucinda Green calling Valegro "an absolute sweetheart to ride" is a farewell told by the people who were there rather than by a results table. The record is there too — Rotterdam 2011, London 2012 at 90.09%, Rio — which is why the tribute lands. Weakest is the source: it truncates, so the abuse case at p8, the worm counts at p9, the lymphoma and joint features at p38 and p40, and the hunting and reports from p46 to p74 survive as titles only. The Dengie advertising gives more detail than several news pages. Buy this for the tribute; it is a keepsake issue.

Strengths
• Valegro 23 and Uthopia 24, put down 1 December
• Blueberry and Uti, lives ran in parallel
• 90.09% at London 2012, Rotterdam 2011, Rio
• Alan Davies, Lucinda Green and Jason Brautigam quoted

Weaknesses
• Abuse case and worm counts are titles only
• Vet special has no body text
• Hunting and reports unquoted

Verdict: Recommended — a keepsake tribute issue, weaker elsewhere.