Sleep well Blueberry & Uti

H

HBB

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Such sad news from Carl Hester 😢

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Sleep well Blueberry and Uti, two of the greatest horses of our generation.

It is with immense sadness that we have said goodbye to Valegro and Uthopia and without question, this is a loss that just feels hard to comprehend.

Trying to write a tribute to these two horses feels harder than I imagined. The yard just doesn’t feel the same without them, there’s an emptiness in the air.

Valegro and Uthopia did more than win medals and write history, they gave our sport a golden era. They both showed that greatness can be gentle, sensitive and harmonious and they made a nation proud and inspired so many.

Being part of their journey will always remain one of my proudest achievements and the whole team and myself are deeply grateful for the joy they gave to us at home but also to their fans around the world.

Their entire lives ran in parallel; they travelled to the shows side by side, lived in neighbouring stables, grazed in the same fields and retired together. Their bond and companionship were absolute.

As life as old boys advanced, so too did the health challenges, so allowing them to leave this world together was the final act of loyalty and dignity I felt I could give them, honouring a partnership that had never been separated in life.

They leave behind a huge void, and the yard has changed forever and so have we. They were our family and I will love and miss them always. The impact they had will remain but sadly, we don’t get to keep horses forever.
We only get to carry what they leave inside us. And these two left us so much.

Carl x
 
How terribly sad and what a legacy they leave behind. They'd both had busy lives and performed at the peak of their athletic ability, it takes it's toll and I imagine it was an incredibly difficult decision, we've had some testing weather so far this winter and it can quickly knock the wind out of an older horses sails. What a selfless decision to let them go together rather than leaving one behind to grieve, but such a devastating loss to say goodbye to them both together, the whole team must be absolutely heartbroken.
 
The end of an era. Two such incredibly special horses, its only right that they should go together. They had a wonderful retirement, it was such a joy to see them woolly, muddy and happy together in the field, I recall one day seeing Uti being cheeky about being caught, he was dancing around a very patiently waiting Valegro and groom, enjoying himself immensely, so lovely to see them being so happy in their retirement, and so well deserved for such legendary horses.
 
millitiger said:
How sad but lovely for them to go together and neither have to be on earth without their best mate.

Cynical me, it means people may be more empathetic/sympathetic towards Charlotte. Particularly good timing, with her big "come back" this month at London...
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I'm not a Charlotte supporter, but what a nasty comment.
 
millitiger said:
How sad but lovely for them to go together and neither have to be on earth without their best mate.

Cynical me, it means people may be more empathetic/sympathetic towards Charlotte. Particularly good timing, with her big "come back" this month at London...
Click to expand...

I don’t think so. Whatever my opinion of her, it was absolutely obvious that she adored him and he was the horse of her lifetime. And I can empathise having lost my own horse of a lifetime and know how much it hurt.


And re them not being old, they were a good age for a sports house that had worked at such high level. And perhaps they could have had a few years longer dosed up with drugs, but having let the vets talk me into that with my mare, I don’t think it’s the ideal retirement.
 
millitiger said:
How sad but lovely for them to go together and neither have to be on earth without their best mate.

Cynical me, it means people may be more empathetic/sympathetic towards Charlotte. Particularly good timing, with her big "come back" this month at London...
Click to expand...
Her horse of a lifetime just died. Give it a rest!
 
pistolpete said:
Not old really.
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For warmbloods who have been at the top level, it’s a grand age.

Sad news, but lovely that they have gone together. I wish more people would make the decision to let horses go with dignity, sooner rather than later.

That must have been a very hard day on Carl’s yard.
 
I don’t really get the ‘going’ together thing. Am I the only one that thinks it’s not quite right? Life is precious. I’d have given anything to have kept my old boy retired a day or week or month longer. My current ponies best friend has just died and he pined for a day or two but is fine now. Maybe I’m wrong.
 
pistolpete said:
I don’t really get the ‘going’ together thing. Am I the only one that thinks it’s not quite right? Life is precious. I’d have given anything to have kept my old boy retired a day or week or month longer. My current ponies best friend has just died and he pined for a day or two but is fine now. Maybe I’m wrong.
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I agree with this, all the talk about going together as if they understood what was happening. I find it hard to believe they had both reached the end of the road at the same time.
 
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