Carl Hester (born 29 June 1967 in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a British

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hester formed part of the Great Britain Dressage team that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life and career

Hester was raised by his mother and stepfather. He lived on the Channel Island of

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

from the age of four, and was educated at Elizabeth College in

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

. His biological father is the actor Tony Smee. Aged 19 he applied for a job with horses in the UK at The Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy and on the centre's skewbald mare, Jolly Dolly, he won the 1985 Young Dressage Rider Championship. Moving to Bourton-on-the-Hill he competed at the first Blenheim Horse Trials and won the Spillers Dressage with Jumping Championship. He next rode for Dr Wilfried Bechtolsheimer (father of Laura Bechtolsheimer) and in 1990 went to the World Championships on Rubelit von Unkenriff, the European Championships in 1991 and in 1992 the Barcelona Olympics on Georgioni. Hester became the youngest British rider ever to compete in an Olympic Games. He next went into a business partnership with Kate Carter at her yard at

Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman ...

until Carter decided to move for more space. Hester too moved to buy his own yard at Oaklebrook Mill, near Newent,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

2011 European Dressage Championship

In 2011 Hester riding the horse Uthopia was part of the British team that won the team gold medal at the 2011 European Dressage Championship in Rotterdam. Hester also won individual silver medals in the Grand Prix Freestyle and Grand Prix Special. As of 8 August 2012 the (FEI) ranked him 12th in the world riding Uthopia.

2012 Olympics

In 2012, Hester was selected with three others to represent the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London in the Individual and Team Dressage events. The UK dressage team won the gold medal with Hester riding Uthopia. Hester was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to equestrianism.

International Championship results

Personal life

Hester is openly gay. In July 2024, it was announced a film was to be made about his life.

References

External links

BBC Sport – Carl Hester profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hester, Carl Living people 1967 births British male equestrians British dressage riders Olympic equestrians for Great Britain Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2016 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2020 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2024 Summer Olympics English gay sportsmen LGBTQ equestrians People from Sark Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in equestrian Members of the Order of the British Empire Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century English LGBTQ people Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics