London 2012 Hero Charlotte Dujardin rides with the Household Cavalry

World number one dressage rider and double Olympic gold medallist, Charlotte Dujardin went back to the roots of her sport today by riding with the Household Cavalry in Hyde Park, London.

Dujardin, who will next be seen in action competing at Olympia, The London International Horse Show on 16-17 December, is seen here riding ‘Integrity’, a Cavalry Black who is one of the lead horses in the Household Cavalry parades.

The London 2012 gold medallist, who is shortlisted for this year’s Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Year Award, said: “It is a true privilege to go back to the roots of the sport that has given me so much joy and an honour to ride a well known Cavalry Black horse.

“It is so interesting to experience how the sport of dressage has developed from the military and how they use the same skills of training that have been integral to the cavalry throughout history. These same skills are required between horse and rider even today to exhibit the grace and technique in a dressage competition.

Dujardin will be hoping to win the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Leg, supported by Horse & Hound for the second year running on 16-17 December at London’s premier horse show in the Olympia Exhibition Hall, Kensington.