All you can do is to do your best.
Charlotte Dujardin
Getting to the top is one thing, but staying there is quite another. That's the difficult bit.
I'm quite happy with the way my life is.
I think we're actually the only sport that has a mix of men and women competing together. The majority of other sports are separated by gender.
I can't help but smile when I ride Valegro; I think something, and he does it. I laugh, and I think, 'God, how does he know? I didn't even ask. I just thought it.'
I've had so many letters from people saying I've inspired them to take up riding, and that's an amazing feeling.
I got asked to do loads of TV series, all sorts of things that weren't me.
I turned the Gloucester Christmas lights on and our local Newent lights on, so everyone recognises me now. It is a completely different life for me.
We all get so excited about the big events, but when there's an animal involved, it's ten times harder.
I was frightened. I hadn't really had any experience, and then all of a sudden I was thrown straight into doing interviews. Most people have build-up. I had none.
Every competition I do, I never know if it's the last one.
The fan mail I get every day is incredible. It piles through the door from not just Britain but everywhere. It is so great to have that support behind me - everyone says I am an inspiration. It is great.
It is very rare that he makes a mistake, and I feel just privileged to have done what I have with him. There will never be another Valegro.
So many horses get stage fright when they enter the arena, and that's it - the performance is over.
I literally did it through hard work and dedication. People out there who think you have to have loads of money to do this sport... it just shows you.
People tell me I'm their idol and a huge inspiration - that's really surreal.
I get called 'the girl off the dancing horse.' I just laugh; I think it's really funny. It's true, isn't it? It's great we're getting that recognition.
It's going to be hard to ever have a horse to replace Valegro. He is a professor. I think he read the dressage book and learnt it all before he ever did it.
The sport is about finding the horses. But to find another Valegro is impossible.
I love having horses from a young age and seeing how far they can go.
My mum used to ride, and when she was mucking out, I always wanted to sit on a horse. And if she took me off, I'd scream my head off.
I remember some people after the Olympics that had no idea about horses would ask, 'Do you do that with the horse, or does the horse do it by itself?' I think the fact that you can make it look like you are doing nothing is a real talent. And it is such a massive reward at the end of it.
I started as a working pupil in a yard, mucking out and doing all the duties... and I just never gave up on my dream.
It isn't called dressage any more - it is called 'dancing horses.'
I don't ever want to be famous. I never want to live that life. I genuinely hate the fact that I would be stopped for a picture or an autograph all the time.
You can't do the same thing every day with the horse. Because they then know the thing inside out, and they're leading you, not the other way round. You don't want them to take over. You have to be able to ride the movements and set the movements up; you don't want them starting before you are ready.
People recognise me now. I've got so much fan mail.
I literally worked from the bottom up to where I am now.
I have come from a background where I haven't had lots of money to put me on the map. I've had to work very hard for what I've got.
I literally got a private invite for lunch with the Queen. There was just 10 of us. And I was absolutely petrified because you can't take anyone with you, and no other sportspeople were there. There was the head of the military, and then the Queen sat next to me.
I want to get up and ride my horses, do what I love doing. I don't want to be recognised.
It is probably like an artist. They see in their head what they want to draw, and they draw it. It is like I have a feeling inside me that I want to create on a horse, and that is what I do.
Every horse I get on I can adapt to. It's like a jigsaw puzzle.
I have walked into several pubs, and guys in there have said to me, 'My God, you are the girl off the dancing horse.' They have got no idea about dressage, and they said, 'I can't work out whether you make the horse do that or the horse does it itself - we just couldn't tell - but it brought tears to our eyes.'
When you're doing well and you're successful, part of being successful is that you get interviewed. But it ruins the moment.
I think I thrive under pressure.
It's going to be a rule, I think, for wearing a crash hat, and I actually fractured my skull through not wearing a hat. I was so lucky to escape from that, and now, it's something I always do.
London was my first Olympics. It was my dream to get there, and I literally had the time of my life.
This will be Valegro's retirement after Rio, so I want to go out there and want to enjoy every last minute.
I'm really, really excited heading towards Rio.
Riding Valegro always makes you smile, so I enjoy it.
Winning HOYS set me up for the future and prepared me for riding in front of lots of people, but the real highlight was the London 2012 Olympics. Being able to go out in front of thousands of people, on your home ground, representing your country and winning gold medals is something I'll never be able to beat.
For most athletes, there's a focus on your own fitness, but I have to rely on my horse, too. I've been very lucky so far, and it hasn't presented a problem, but you can never count on a competition going as planned until you're there and actually doing it.
I've done more than I ever dreamed of.
If I never competed again, it wouldn't bother me. I don't care.
It's insane to have won all those things - not possible. But what I love is learning, which never stops and is nothing to do with the medals you've won.
That's why success hasn't changed me: because I don't want to be famous or do TV or be a model or be recognised in a shop. I'm not interested. There's nothing worse.
When I used to say I did dressage, I got blank looks. No one had a clue what I was on about.
For me, I wouldn't mind if I never did another Olympics; nothing can beat London. The setting, the support, the military people. From start to finish, it was such fun. I had the most amazing time.
My first ambition was to be a show jumper. I did a bit of dressage as part of it, and the dressage trainer saw me and said, 'Why are you wasting your time with the other stuff? You should be concentrating on this.'
