A LOT has changed since Horse & Hound last interviewed Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour in 2018. Back then, she was a rising star fresh from winning two bronze medals at the 2017 European Championships aboard Atterupgaards Cassidy - a remarkable horse who took Cathrine from juniors to the biggest stages of all. Today, Cathrine, 32, is an established icon in the sport, with multiple championship medals and an ever-growing legion of supporters.
Then of course there's the name - I'm speaking to her only a couple of days after her wedding to Rasmine Laudrup, the international showjumper and daughter of European Championship-winning footballer Brian Laudrup.
Apologetic, and not wanting to intrude on a honeymoon, I ask Cathrine if she's sure she doesn't want to rearrange.
"We were already back in the stables on Monday," she laughs. "It's been a full-on week so far and we're a bit tired, but we couldn't be happier."
You get the sense when speaking to Cathrine that she is perpetually in motion, and it has certainly been a whirlwind few months for her. Yet it comes at the back of an unusually quiet year in which she has largely had to watch on from the sidelines.
With Cassidy now retired and her other recent championship rides - Bohemian and Vamos Amigos - with new riders, Cathrine spent much of 2023 without a top-level horse and so slipped out of the world rankings.
"To be honest, I've actually enjoyed having a quieter season without having to plan both my and Rasmine's life around competitions," she says. "It's meant I've had more time to be with the younger horses, taking the time to educate them.
"But I've missed the rush of going into the big rings and trying to pull off the impossible. I miss that feeling of competing for my country and showing off my lovely horses."
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 18, 2024 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 18, 2024 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Walking up a sweat
Plodding around the hills in the summer is poor preparation for a riding lesson, finds Tessa Waugh, who nonetheless improves from \"granny crouch\" to conjuring a floating trot
'She's a little rocket'
An amazing Billy Stud auction purchase is untouchable and a Dorset \"family holiday\" proves profitable
Speedy Brown bags a win
PHIL BROWN and Rachel Cardall's M Bear Esquire (Joey) were the only combination to keep a completely clean sheet in the sole intermediate section - a feat that earned them top spot.
Ballaghmor Class looks sharp
Oliver Townend's veteran star is back in the game, while elsewhere horses heading to Pau dominate, as this East Anglian event defies the weather
A symphony of red and gold'
Waking with the jackals, sleeping under the stars and galloping to the world's edge in a \"true wilderness\", Eleanor Jones experiences the trip of a lifetime in the Namibian desert
'The world's toughest steeplechase'
The Pardubice is well known to be formidable. Xander Brett asks some of the British raiders how they rose to the challenge
What's the problem?
Lameness is often the first thought if a sport horse performs below par, but there are plenty of other possible causes. Imogen Johns FRCVS explains
Lewis Robertson-Carrier
The new national dressage champion and his newly-wed wife tell Oscar Williams about the highs, challenges and emotions of their unforgettable week
New technology aims to reduce equine inbreeding
The idea is to give owners of mares and stallions more information when choosing possible pairings
Half of owners cannot identify equine lameness
A study found many owners cannot tell when a horse is lame or sound