Campaigners have called for equestrian events to be cut from the Olympic Games schedule following repeated incidents of horses being struck by competitors and coaches.
On Tuesday, Team GB‘s joint-most decorated female Olympian and three-time equestrian gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from Paris 2024 after an old video surfaced of her repeatedly hitting a student’s horse with a whip from the ground.
i has made the decision not to broadcast the footage.
Reacting to the incident, animal rights charity Peta called for the Olympics to “move in the modern era” and drop equestrian events.
“The message to the International Olympic Committee should be clear by now: remove equestrian events from the Olympic Games,” said Peta US senior vice president Kathy Guillermo.
“Yet again, an Olympic rider has been caught on video abusing a horse to force the animal to behave in an entirely unnatural way, simply for her own glory”.
Ms Guillermo continued: “Horses don’t volunteer – they can only submit to violence and coercion. It’s time for the Olympics to move into the modern era”.
Animal Aid campaigner Nina Copleston-Hawkins also said the events should be dropped, telling i: “It is simply unacceptable for any animal to suffer in the name of ‘sport’. These horses are at risk of injury, abuse and learned helplessness – all because of a human’s pursuit of a medal.
“Compassion and kindness should be our guiding principles, not domination and control. For the Olympics to continue with the status quo when the magnitude of suffering is so clear would be a woeful misjudgment.
“It’s time for the Olympics to go animal-free”.
It follows an incident at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where a German coach appeared to punch a distressed horse during the modern pentathlon showjumping competition.
The coach was subsequently thrown out of the Games, with the controversy prompting a rejig of the modern pentathlon event line-up to drop the equestrian discipline and replace it with a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course after this summer’s Olympics – a decision that has led to tensions between the sport’s athletes and higher-ups.
Ms Copleston-Hawkens added that there had also been other instances of horses suffering at the last Olympics, where one horse suffered a nosebleed during a showjumping final and another was put down after incurring an injury on the cross-country course.
Equestrian events at the Olympics begin on Saturday but will not feature Dujardin, 39, who could have become the most decorated female athlete for Team GB at the Olympics but requested to be provisionally suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), the investigating body, said they received the video in question from a lawyer – named by Dutch website Horses.nl as Stephan Wensing – on Monday.
Mr Wensing has been quoted as saying it is “unacceptable that dressage sport should be accompanied by animal abuse”, adding: “If top-level sport can only be performed in such a way that the welfare of the horse is compromised, then top-level sport should be abolished”.
The lawyer said his unnamed client had said they had seen similar abuse several times while working with Dujardin, who he said was giving a lesson to a student at a private barn in the UK more than two years ago during the incident in question.
He told The Telegraph that Dujardin “took the long whip and she was beating the horse more than 24 times in one minute and really hard, really harsh, really tough”, adding that it was like “an elephant in the circus”.
A spokesperson for the RSPCA, an animal welfare charity, told i: “This video is difficult to watch and we don’t condone any kind of training that causes distress to animals, including the use of a whip in any way which inflicts pain and distress.
“Animals – including those used in sport – must always be treated with kindness and respect, and their welfare should be the highest priority. They should never be exposed to anything which could cause them pain, suffering and distress.
“We welcome that this has already been referred to a relevant authority and that the FEI is investigating. We are ready to provide any support to their work, if required”.
Dujardin was set to compete in both the individual dressage and the team event alongside Carl Hester and world champion Lottie Fry. She is expected to be replaced in the team by alternate Becky Moody and her horse Jagerbomb.
In response to the incident, UK Sport – the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport – said it was “disturbed by the serious concerns that have been raised in the past 24 hours regarding horse welfare and Charlotte Dujardin” and confirmed the rider’s access to public funding had been suspended.
A spokesperson continued: “We expect all staff and athletes in Olympic and Paralympic sport to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour, ethics and integrity.
“Sport national governing bodies are required to notify us when they become aware of any conduct-related issues involving a World Class Programme athlete or member of staff so it can be reviewed under the Funding Eligibility Policy.
“In line with our Eligibility Policy, Charlotte Dujardin’s eligibility to receive public funding and access to publicly funded benefits has now been suspended, pending the outcome of the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s (FEI) investigation.
“We now need to let the FEI’s investigation conclude before making any further comment”.