Olympic gold medal hopes, Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester, have hailed the Hartpury Festival of Dressage as the perfect preparation for Rio 2016.

The dressage superstars both lit up the Festival stage with a series of stunning tests to clinch emphatic victories in a host of classes, and more than 50,000 people from 26 countries tuned in to watch the action on the livestream. A 1000-strong sell-out crowd were also treated to a breathtaking performance from Charlotte Dujardin on Saturday night (July 9th) in Hartpury’s main international arena as she premiered her new Olympic Grand Prix Freestyle on treble dressage world record holder, Valegro.

The duo scored an incredible 90.625% with their Rio Carnival-inspired test that they will perform in Rio - an amazing 17% ahead of second place. Valegro even made the most of his extended Hartpury holiday by having a cool down in the water treadmill at the Equine Therapy Centre.

Fellow London 2012 gold medallist and Hartpury Equine Academy dressage coach, Carl, stole the show on Sunday, winning the Grand Prix Special on Nip Tuck by a more than 10% winning margin.