Is it true about Charlotte Dujardin withdrawing from the Olympics?

[Freakwave897]

Or is it fake news?

It’s so disappointing if true…

I am a huge fan and can’t quite believe what I am hearing.

As if she was enjoying it, tbh.

Wow, that "training method" is worse than anything I have seen in showjumping and my daughter had some awful "old school" coaches. The poor horse!! It's definitely not a "lapse of judgment". She's monstrous

This is the tip of the iceberg. There have been efforts to address the abuse of sports horses for several years, particularly in dressage. A lot of it amounts to torture.
There are many other ways to ride and train horses that don't involve such abuse, but very often the elite riders say that their 'methods' (abuse) are perfectly ok in the right hands, and that people who don't ride at that level should keep quiet. It's utterly abhorrent and i am glad it's now in the limelight!

That video is not depicting someone’s “error of judgement”. That video depicts someone training a horse the way they are accustomed to training horses - what she is doing is clearly an everyday, normal activity for her. @SweetAda has it right - a casual, confident abuser.

She's talking absolute shit with her "apology". That is NOT a one off. No way on earth.
My sister rode at Grand Prix level very successfully for years without employing any of those methods during training and with no brutal tack and bits. It is absolutely possible.

How do non-horsey parents of riders engage with riding schools on the commonplace use of whips? Is there a sliding scale? Or is it all unacceptable? Many school horses are not as responsive as you'd like and need some encouragement to trot, canter etc. Teachers always encourage the use of whips mostly to tap the horse although dd has seen younger riders whacking their ponies. 😒

They either aren’t responsive because the riders aren’t established enough or they are school sour, on the continent riders spend ages on the lunge to avoid constant smacking with crops/pony club kicking. We don’t do it here as we treating horse riding like we do gymnastics or football, just an extracurricular activity that’s meant to be fun.

If it was completely rife id be looking at a different school

There’s a hell of a lot of money involved here. Fees, marketing sponsorship, deals, prizes. The proliferation and marketing of new “riding aids” prompted by top riders as essentials, should also be strernly examined. These product endorsements make money and many are questionable. Are they really needed? I would say many are not. Horsemanship is a millennia-old skill that should require nothing more than patience, deep equine wisdom and above all else, an egoless partnership. The whole industry apparatus needs looking at.

Horsemanship is a millennia-old skill that should require nothing more than patience, deep equine wisdom and above all else, an egoless partnership.

Love this.

It is obviously normal practice at that yard. The person recording the video or someone standing very close to them can be heard chuckling while watching the horse being abused. Absolutely sickening!

@ijustneedtokeepbreathing
I'm not saying it's an either/or situation.

I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy that she's rightly been given an official bollocking and sanction.

And yet, he gets a pass, somehow.
I don't know how these decisions are made?

It’s shocking, I agree. From a different time of no big bucks or sponsors.

I found that sickening, the chuckling.

Yep, the chuckle really turned my stomach. There’s no way this is a one off at that yard. That level of abuse is clearly well established. Now it’s in the open, I hope it creates a permanent change in the culture

@ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews I have no idea either, however both situations should be dealt with individually without reference to the other.

I don't even know whose the hypocrisy would be here. CJD has accepted a suspension by the relevant uk industry body, but in relation to the other guy that would be a matter for the police of his country and the olympic governing body. So totally different authorities involved.

I have seen the video now and it is utterly revolting. And anyone who thinks that is a one off is deluded. And anyone who chooses to focus instead on the timing of the release is an apologist for abuse.

Agree. Plus the mere fact she was doing it with people watching shows she felt it was acceptable

Fucking hell, what a horrible video the loud whizz of the whip through the air and the sharp crack against the horse’s legs was awful. And the laughter of the cunt filming it!

I understand why the person who took it kept hold of it for so long then released it just before the possibility of CD breaking an Olympic record - seems very suspect to me

I suspect the thought of Charlotte parading around at the Olympics like some kind of modern day hero was too much for the young woman and the timing (including the rider being much older now) to expose her was now. Nothing else in Charlottes life could have been a bigger fall from Grace than this being exposed right before the Olympics. She really has been taught a very big lesson. Theres none bigger.

Yes the timing is appropriate as the video has full impact. If it had been released sooner, it may have been swept under the carpet. She is suspended for 6 months, if that ad happened a year ago, she might still have been riding for GB. Shame on all who silently endorsed and helped normalise such abuse.

And the laughter of the cunt filming it

Yes. That was awful. And then she stood there happily explaining why it was done so she could appear to the person next to her that she was in the know on training methods. I’d like her name to be exposed also.

I have watched the video.

One terrible aspect of the situation is the rider having a firm grip and keeping the horse against the boards as it tries desperately to get away from the whip. Shame on them too.
This seems like "casual" customary behaviour on her part and she deserves her downfall. I wish her medals could be taken away too.
Horses gave her the fame - and THEY were the stars.

I agree, the laughing. God I hate humans sometimes and today is one of those days 😓

I would love to get a wet tea towel on the legs of the person chuckling and see if they kept chuckling once I had finished

@blobby10 ditto to all you said. When I was young I did some things I am ashamed of as I didn’t know better, that’s what I was taught. I don’t think anything near like this and this is from what I thought was the one of the best 2-3 riders in the world. One correction is training, this is just horrible and as PPs say she is calm when doing it. It’s not the first time. I feel incredibly sad about the whole thing.