Book Review: The Girl on the Dancing Horse

Charlotte Dujardin has taken the dressage world by storm! Basically, as soon as she reached the top level she was winning all the major titles with her horse Valegro or known in the barn as Blueberry. At only 33 years old Charlotte will be around for many years and getting a glimpse into her life thus far was a treat. Often, you get to read about great riders after their careers are somewhat over. I feel like I got a peek into the current industry at this current time instead of looking back on an industry I've never known. More riders should put out books!

The book starts by walking you through Charlotte's riding as a child and how it was a family affair. She even left high school at 16 to pursue her riding. And at 21 she started her working relationship with Carl Hester, who she still works with to this day. It was interesting to think about the differences between the U.K. and the U.S. and being so much closer to all of your countries top riders instead of being spread out so far. 

Charlotte's writing style is so comfortable and enjoyable. I feel like I know her and if we ever met we would already be friends. I liked that she shared her battle with depression. It's so easy to think that someone with so much success would be immune to those feelings. I love that she's contributing to a conversation that is worth having! Through her stories, we got a glimpse into what it takes to be at the highest level of the equestrian sport. I was shocked to read about how hard she is on herself, she would come out of the ring with a record breaking score and still talk about all the parts that went wrong. Some parts of this book were definitely hard to relate to, but all in all I really enjoyed it!

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This book was brought to you by Trafalgar Square Books.
All opinions are my own.