Charlotte Dujardin's British Team Horse Imhotep Sold to Austria

Dressage

Austria

Imhotep, Charlotte Dujardin's 2022 WEG and 2023 EDC medal winning ride, has been sold to Austria.

The 11-year old gelding will continue his sport career under Diana Porsche.

Bought Off a Video

Imhotep is an 11-year old Dutch warmblood by Everale out of Della D'Ottie (by Vivaldi x Sandro Hit). He is bred by bred by Tineke Huizing and Albert Van Dijk in the Netherlands.

Owner Carl Hester bought Imhotep, aka "Pete", off video from British dressage rider Henry Boswell and partnered with Carol Ingham for the ownership.

Ingham came onboard as a majority owner after a phone call from Hester. She said: “Carl and I go back a long way. I trained with Carl for many years and I gave him the ride on my grand prix horse Wanadoo,” Ingham reminisced. “When that came to a natural end, Carl asked if I would be interested in owning something else. ‘I have this four-year-old, why don’t you come and have a look?’”

Barker and Smith

At the 2022 World Dressage Championships in Herning

As a young horse Imhotep was first trained by assistant rider Rob Barker. He competed the horse for one season in the 4-year old classes and finished 9th in the preliminary round at the 2017 British Young Horse Championships.

In 2018 it was Sadie Smith's turn and she competed Pete through 2020 from elementary to medium level. They were fourth in the elementary division at the 2019 British Dressage Championships.

Charlotte Dujardin

As of the summer of 2020 Charlotte Dujardin began showing Imhotep and she quickly produced him from Medium level to Grand Prix.

In 2021 they won the British Small Tour Championship and in March 2022 competed in their first national Grand Prix test. The pair debuted at international GP level at the CDIO Compiegne, where they placed fourth in the GP with 72.804%. From there they went to the CDI Wellington Heckfield and made it onto the British team for the 2022 World Championships in Herniing, where they won team silver and finished 6th in the Special and 10th in th Kur. In 2023 they rode at the European Championships in Riesenbeck and got team gold and double bronze.

After that they went on a winning streak at CDI's in London, Hagen, Hickstead, and Wellington. They were nominated on the British team for the 2024 Olympic Games, but got replaced by first reserve Becky Moody and Jagerbomb following the publication of a video alleging horse abuse.

Sold to Austria

Imhotep has now been sold to Diana Porsche.

"We first got in contact with Charlotte and Carl in Hagen earlier this year while looking for another Grand Prix horse," Diana told Eurodressage exclusively. "They mentioned that Imhotep could be a great fit for me, but they wanted to keep him until the Olympics for Charlotte."

The Salzburg based Porsche has a state of the art equestrian facility with ample fields, pastures and paddocks to guarantee a good horsey life.

"It was very important for them to choose where he would go, ensuring he has a good rider and can continue living the life he’s used to by going out to the fields every day," Diana explained. "It was a great honor for me to try him, and from the moment I sat on him, we clicked right away. I’m really proud to be able to grow with a horse like Imhotep."

Diana is coached by Dutch Diederik Wigmans and has been successfully competing Dahoud and Douglas at international Grand Prix level. Imhotep has now joined her string of horses.

"Charlotte and Carl have done an amazing job with him, and Diederik and I will stay in close contact with them to ensure it works out with me in the future," Diana told Eurodressage. "I want to take as much time as I need, without pressure, to gain experience with him. I also want to thank the owner, Coral Ingham, as well as Charlotte and Carl, for trusting me with this lovely horse."