Valegro Pendant Information
Valegro Brooch
Created by Irene Greenberg of Eye Gee Design for The Dressage Foundation’s Karen Skvarla Fund for Young Professionals
The winner will receive a beautiful one-of-a-kind pendant, crafted from Gold Medalist's Valegro's tail hair, along with a certificate of authenticity, signed by Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester. This piece is hand crafted by Eye Gee Design. Tickets will be 1/$10 or 3/$25 and proceeds will benefit TDF's Karen Skvarla Fund for Young Professionals.
When Carl Hester agreed to provide a bit of Valegro’s tail hair for a jewelry piece to raise money for The Dressage Foundation, Irene Greenberg immediately began thinking about how best to use it. She wanted the final product to be different and unique, just as Valegro is. To that end, she decided to make a brooch in the style of a medal or an award, designed to be worn as a pin or a pendant.
In the finished piece, a four-strand braid of Valegro's hair is formed into a circle and held by a tube, on which warmblood breed logos can be seen in raised relief. To add some sparkle, very thin sterling silver wire was braided in with his hair. The hair is mounted on a rectangular silver base which, on close inspection, shows the imprint of horse hooves. This texture was inspired by the footing of a riding arena after use. Wrappings of sterling wire on either side of the tube created extra texture and balance. In the center of the circle is a raised, gold plated “V”.
There are a couple of decorative touches on the back side of the brooch in addition to the utilitarian parts of the piece. Valegro’s name is inscribed there, along with two yellow sapphires, set to commemorate the two Gold Medals Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro won together. The pin is steel, for strength, and is held in place with a tension clasp. In addition, there is a bale for a chain to pass through, so it can be worn as a necklace. There are two makers’ marks: one is the Eye Gee Design logo and the other shows the purity of the silver, which is .999.
A 24" sterling silver chain is included with the brooch.
TDF's booth (located near the warm-up arena) was made possible through a generous grant from the USA Equestrian Trust. Thank you.
