Desert Island Discs

Carl Hester, dressage rider

11.21.2021 - By BBC Radio 4Play

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Carl Hester is a dressage rider who has competed in six Olympic Games, winning a team gold at London 2012. Carl grew up on Sark in the Channel Islands, where cars are banned and horses are part of the island’s daily life. He learned to ride on a donkey before progressing to horses. After leaving school, his first job was at an equine therapy centre in Hampshire. A key moment in his early career was an invitation from Dr Wilfried Bechtolsheimer, a leading figure in dressage, to join his yard. In 1992 Carl became the youngest ever British rider to compete at an Olympic Games. As well as a gold in London in 2012, he and the team won silver in Rio in 2016, and earlier this year a bronze medal in Tokyo, where he was the oldest member of Team GB. Carl has also enjoyed great success as a trainer of horses, including Valegro, once described as the ‘Lionel Messi of the dressage world.’ He has also mentored the rider Charlotte Dujardin, currently Britain’s most successful female Olympian along with the cyclist Laura Kenny. He lives near Newent in Gloucestershire and says he hopes to compete at the Paris Olympics in 2024. DISC ONE: Castles by Freya Ridings

DISC TWO: Fleurs Du Mal by Sarah Brightman

DISC THREE: Brand New Key by Melanie

DISC FOUR: Some Girls by Racey

DISC FIVE: Slave to Love by Bryan Ferry

DISC SIX: Barcelona by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé

DISC SEVEN: The Windmills of Your Mind by Noel Harrison

DISC EIGHT: Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes BOOK CHOICE: The Centenary Book of Sark: a history and description of the artist William A Toplis by Chris Andrews, Fiona Kelly and Amy McKee

LUXURY ITEM: Carl’s own pillow

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes Presenter Lauren Laverne

Producer Sarah Taylor

More episodes from Desert Island Discs