Olympian Charlotte Dujardin's autobiography to Preface

Preface has acquired The Girl on the Dancing Horse, a memoir by elite British dressage rider and triple Olympic Gold Medallist Charlotte Dujardin, CBE.

Publisher Trevor Dolby acquired world rights from Abby Newell of Piaffe Limited.

Dujardin first appeared at the Olympic Games in London when she recorded a score of 90.089% (only the third score in history over 90%). Dujardin went on to become the European Champion, World Champion and holds all three World Records.

The Girl on the Dancing Horse is "the story of how an outsider and her unconventional horse changed the world of equestrian sport", according to Preface. Dujardin left school at age 16 to compete in competitions, and at 22 was invited to be a groom at Carl Hester’s yard in Gloucestershire, where she met her "challenging" horse, Valegro, with whom she was able to build an "almost telepathic" connection with.

Dujardin said: "It has been an incredible journey with so many high points along the way and I never expected to have achieved all I have. I hope my fans enjoy reading about my story, one that has involved hard work, sacrifice and commitment to an unshakable dream and with a horse I love beyond words."

Dolby said: "Last autumn a friend invited me to Olympia to see the retirement performance of a horse called Valegro and a rider called Charlotte Dujardin. I had heard of her of course. 'The Girl on the Dancing Horse', the triple Olympic Gold medal winner. But I had no idea just what an extraordinary experience it was to be. What I saw there was mind blowing; she was so far ahead of the field, even to my untrained eye you could see this was a partnership which was very special indeed. And what a story they have. A story of passion and dedication and sacrifice and raw talent. Two outsiders, horse and rider, who took on the world."

Preface will publish in hardback and e-book editions on 24th August 2017, with an Arrow paperback edition following in 2018.