Video has emerged of Olympian Charlotte Dujardin repeatedly whipping a horse during a training session.
Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian pulled out of the Paris Games over the footage, recorded during a lesson at a private barn.
The 39-year-old said it was “completely out of character” and an “error of judgement” which “does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils”.
But she admitted “there is no excuse” and she was “deeply ashamed” and “sincerely sorry”.
Dujardin said it happened four years ago.
However, the whistleblower’s lawyer told Sky News it was recorded two-and-a-half years ago while his client watched a lesson as a sponsor.
Stephan Wensing’s client said they had seen abuse several times from Dujardin and filmed it because of how the horse was being treated.
Pic: Reuters
They said they hadn’t reported it before as they felt intimidated by her prestige and been warned by people in the dressage community to stay quiet – but felt they had to act with the Olympics coming up.
Dujardin, who has won six Olympic medals – including two golds in London and a third in Rio, had been due to compete in individual and team events in France.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) has now provisionally suspended her for six months.
British Equestrian chief executive Jim Eyre said: “As the guardians of equestrian sport, we must uphold the highest standards of equine welfare – the horse’s wellbeing is paramount.
“The allegations made are serious and the consequences far reaching.”
In 2019, Dujardin was eliminated from the European Championships after a “very small amount of blood” was found on her horse’s side.
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The FEI said it didn’t imply any intent to injure the animal, but that it broke a rule designed to protect the horses.
Dujardin said at the time she was “devastated” and “nothing like this has ever happened to me before”.
The Olympian, born in Enfield in north London, started riding when she was two.
From a modest background but competing in an expensive sport, she bought her first Grand Prix horse in 2007 thanks to money left to her by her grandmother.
Dressage involves the horse and rider performing artistic movements to music.
The current investigation comes more than two years after another Olympic champion, Sir Mark Todd, was suspended after a video showed him striking a horse with a branch.
Todd won two Olympic golds in 1984 and 1988 for New Zealand and was knighted in 2013.
Source Agencies
