British WEG team gold medal winning dressage rider Carl Hester has officially stated that he does not endorse the Valegro Syndicate which has been set up by fans on Facebook to gather money to buy a 49% share of the horse to keep the ride with Charlotte Dujardin.
Round Christmas an enthusiastic Valegro fan set up a Syndicate Page on Facebook asking all Valegro enthusiasts to donate money to a British sollicitor who would keep the cash until enough has been gathered to buy a half share ownership of Valegro so that Charlotte Dujardin can keep the ride on her Olympic champion.
Neither Charlotte Dujardin nor Carl Hester have officially endorsed the Valegro syndicate Facebook page, which reached the BBC news a couple of days ago.
On the Valegro Syndicate Page it is written that 2.5 million British pounds are needed to buy a 49% share of Valegro, a 10-year old Dutch warmblood gelding (by Negro x Gerschwin) owned by Carl Hester and long-time business partner Roly Luard.
To Eurodressage Carl said, "I wont endorse it. I hate that begging. (It) causes ill feeling."
Hester further clarified his stance officially by stating that "neither Roly or myself have been contacted about this and although good intentions from a fan, we never intended to appear asking so many people for money and operating such a large syndicate of people which would be extremly difficult to pull together legally from what I know."
"I never hid the fact that Valegro would be sold after the Olympics which of course has become much more difficult due to the success Charlotte and he have achieved," Carl added. "Roly and I felt as owners, we must be honest that he was to be sold in case a wealthy benefactor and presumably a fan could have the opportunity to purchase him. In these difficuly economic times, we do not expect people to feel in any way they have to contribute."
"Hopefully, even if he moves on, Charlotte and I will continue to try and produce more horses good enough for teams," Carl concluded. "This is an uncomfortable subject, trying to raise money, but we have always been prepared for plan B if A didnt come up trumps."
Photos © Astrid Appels
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