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.

Can’t even support Ingrid instead as Franz - who is IMO the best horse on the circuit by a mile - is injured 😢

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

Honestly? Who fucking cares what their motives were. Maybe it was underhanded, maybe it was because they became an adult, I don’t care. Was it wrong for them told hold into it for four years? Probably as it likely have left many more horses vulnerable, but I couldn’t give a tiny fuck if they did it for nefarious reasons, I’m just glad they did it. And if doing it now has had the biggest impact then good. The focus needs to shift from ‘Why have they done this?’ To ‘How the fuck has this been acceptable in this lady’s day to day training and how can we use this to start protecting horses in the industry?’ I don’t care why it was released, I just care that horses are being abused and we need to collectively keep shouting about it to make sure it is understood it’s unacceptable and it doesn’t happen any more.

I have horses & that is animal abuse. The horse is confused & frightened.

I think now, moving forwards, taking this horrible situation in to account, the FEI, or at least the Olympic authorities, should ask every rider taking part in Olympic equestrian sports, to swear on oath that their training methods are not cruel and they have not done anything remotely like CD has done.

Mind you, if cruelty in dressage is as rampant as everyone on here is suggesting, and CD’s malpractice was widely known about, what have the FEI been doing up to this point?

The FEI needs to show that they are certain that everyone is observing the correct standards and that CD is the exception and not the rule.

Judging by everyone’s posts here, the FEI still have a lot of work to do.

Agreed. I hope the release of the video will bring an end to the stream of apologists for CD and instead bring about a focus on how widespread this is and what should be done to bring about change.

Cruel b*tch.

Absolutely no excuse. I hope her career is well and truly over.

And he never did any time because the judge presumed his rape of a 12 year old girl would ruin his career, which he believed was punishment enough.

Wrong on so many levels.

I only saw the shorter clip this morning but have just watched the longer version on Sun Sports, and I’m absolutely sickened. The horse has no where to go, it’s absolute coercion and dominance. This is NOT horsemanship. It’s frustration at having to give a lesson to a horse and rider in exchange for money when the horse is thwarting her tactics. She’s determined to get a result with that whip. The horse is utterly confused, tired and I dare say a little afraid. Her suspension should not be temporary and those chuckling stable hands/witnesses should be taken to task too.

The why's and where's about the timing of the release is irrelevant - that video shows cruel and unnecessary behaviour towards that horse. I think she's going to seriously struggle to come back from this, and rightly so. She may drag Carl Hester down with her too unless he's quick to distance himself...

To succeed at top level dressage, i can't see how you could do that without some element of force.

To ride in FEI competitions you need a double bridle which is a pretty harsh piece of kit in the wrong hands. You're not allowed to compete in a snaffle bridle, which is pretty much the simplest bridle.

Total agree re timing, who cares and actually good on them for doing it for maximum impact now. Yes will be interesting what Carl Hester does now...

OMG I’ve just watched the video. It is sickening and disgusting. That poor horse and of course what must be the many before and in the intervening 4 years before the release of this video.
This must surely be the end for her. How can she ever come back from this? She should be banned from keeping and training horses if that’s how she treats them. Just awful. 😡

I also can't see how you do international dressage without abuse since Rollkur became accepted.

It's obvious judges reward it, the FEI has been ineffective in stopping it and so if you want to win you have to do it as there are no longer any points for a relaxed comfortable partnership.

Carl Hester wrote this in March this year. I have to say, he and others close Charlotte (and I’m not suggesting any of them are guilty of similar) need to take a long hard look at what now appear to be pretty empty words, especially as he was her professional partner and should be in no doubt as to what goes on behind the scenes - this is very close to home:

www.britishdressage.co.uk/news/charter-for-the-horse-a-unified-approach-to-safeguarding-our-equines-and-equids

Apologies, he didn’t write it - I meant he is quoted in it.

He does endorse it though
Surely he needs to make a statement rapidly ?

The video is not good and looks calculated, because it happens in different areas of the school, if it was one smack it wouldn't be so bad but she's really after him.

Begs the question if she's prepared to do that in a lesson.... makes you question how Blueberry was trained, and we also know who's yard she is based at - you'd hope said person wouldn't but at best is a blind eye being turned?

There's multiple comments in places about why didn't they report it earlier
It could be the adults involved were ruthlessly ambitious for the girl involved and were desperate to train with "the best" and if "the best " is using these methods and getting gold medals it clearly works. They could be non horseyI watch Dance Mums and the instructor regularly bawls the girls and their parents out, yet they keep coming back because of the exposure it gives the girls (thus securing dance videos with singers etc), the fame of being in a tv show, winning almost every competition they go to etc. Many are definitely living vicariously through their childrenIt's not right, but again it goes back to that ruthless obsession with successI know if I was being coached by a gold medal winning olympian who let's be honest, was held on a very high pedestal, id struggle to feel I could speak out, because of the perceived power they hold

I’ve watched the video now, even though I didn’t want to, and the casual and sustained use of the whip was awful to watch. I suspect the rider was probably in tears after that, I know I would have been. If they were young it’s even harder for them to say no. I wonder who was videoing it, and whether it was a parent?

Its not needed. Go take s look at Isaac Ares Rio. You can also google force free dressage.

I have no sympathy for her. It's a shame the video took so long to surface as it's clear that this is not an 'error of judgement', but her training methods. She's probably been abusing these beautiful animals for years. I very much admired her, certainly not anymore.

While I agree with you, many of the cruel techniques and gadgets are also age old.

I have been following this for some time. The two most used excuses are “a moment in time taken out of context” and a “lapse in judgement”

I don’t disagree - you are quite right!

I reckon Carl Hester will be next to be outed

I have no idea about horses so please ignore if this is nonsense, but could the governing body of horse sport start random spot checks on care and training?

Like how athletes get woken up at 5am in their own home to do a drug test, can they not be given full access to yards so they don’t have to announce arrival and check training methods? If there’s no warning they should be able to see what is happening behind closed doors.