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.

Excellent!!! Hope it's permanent. And she couldn't use it anyway cos she'll be in jail.

It’s not just a dressage problem, though. This lovely specimen hasn’t even been suspended!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/25/max-kuehner-horse-equestrian-olympics-abuse-dujardin-paris/

@StripedPiggy she has brought it all on herself. If she hadn't been an abusive cunt, there wouldn't be any video to show. She deserves everything she gets, and loses. As do all of the others that have done similar.

Feel sorry for the innocent horses, not her.

You see, it's frothing posts like this that make me feel for CJD. She's a human being. I can't imagine how she felt waking up this morning. You can think what she did was stupid and unpleasant without absolutely laying into her.

Cjd isn't going to jail.

Calm down.

@needtonamechangeforthis1

Take a step back and let the FEI do their job

Really? When they've done absolutely sweet fuck all about abuse before, ever? Nobody seems to have been bothered a jot before this bomb went off.

@SnowDiaries
At this stage the International Olympic Committee need to make a call. It seems national federations can't or won't. Neither will the teammates of those accused of cruelty. Shame on them all.

Yeah, that was a news item last year. He lost all his sponsorship.

You can think what she did was stupid and unpleasant
Talk about minimising what she did.

No, it was unpleasant and stupid. The horse was confused and upset. It was horrible to watch.

I think the violent aggressive posts about CJD are just as repulsive.

It was cruel and abusive. Far more than just unpleasant and stupid. Why are you so determined to defend her actions?

Agree. Dutch team took action, Dutch lawyer acting on behalf, doesn't take much to see the train of thought. They've been very brave to be the whistleblower against the former golden poster girl.

Why are you so determined to misread what I said because I didn't use the same descriptors as you?

Stupid implies she made a mistake or didn't think. She is far from stupid.

CJD, or Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease probably deserves everything it gets in the way of abuse.

CDJ, well, being human, she’s protected by law against threats of violence or abuse. So people should probably restrain themselves to criticism of her as an equestrian and her actions.

But yea, CJD indeed 🙄

In your opinion .

She's a human being and a mum. It's perfectly possible to think that what she did was awful and feel sorry for her as a human being

Or is nuance not a thing anymore?

What's her being a mum got to do with anything?

Nothing, if it makes it easier to dehumanise people so you can hate them I suppose.

Does it make what she did worse or better because she has a child? Does being a woman with a child somehow mean you should be immune to criticism?

If it was a 6ft 5 man built like arnold Schwarzenegger who beat that horse up, would you be entreating people to stop talking about it if he has previously fathered a child?

I just don't see the relevance. We are talking about her actions as a multiple gold winning equestrian who was caught on video, whipping a horse repeatedly with a child on board, not her actions as a mum, so her reproductive status has nothing to do with anything.

In actual fact, she put that 15 year old child in danger by whipping the horse she was riding. The child could have been thrown and seriously injured. That's not very maternal, is it?

I am somebody who loves horses, and was lucky enough to have one growing up, but never since, although I do go riding from time to time still.

I have always enjoyed watching dressage in the Olympics etc, with no clue how it all works, but I think somewhere underneath it all I have always wondered how on earth any horse is trained to perform in these competitions.

I worry now that all the horses involved in the sport may be subjected to horrible training and that CD is just the tip of the iceberg. I also hate the Grand National because of the injury/death, and hate to see anybody using a whip on a horse.

Of course she is a human being and a mum, but she is also an ambassador for her sport and there really is no coming back from the video. She shouldn't be getting death threats but unfortunately this is the world we live in today - social media means there is no invisibility, it is a very disappointing episode all round.

But if somebody can be prosecuted for putting a cat in a wheelie bin, then there really should be some criminal action taken against her - just because she is a mum she should not be immune.

It wasn't just this video - there's another one of CD competing with a horse who's tongue has turned blue due to lack of oxygen. Seems that for a long time traditional horse (and dog) training methods seemed to involve pain if the animal wasn't compliant.

Interestingly the Queen's main horse trainer for a very long time for her young race horses (Monty Roberts) and her main working dog trainer both use training methods that don't involve physical pain. I know dogs don't get whipped but plenty of dog trainers use/d choke chains. Also, Prince Phillip with his carriage competitions was known for carrot rather than stick with his horses when introducing them to new obstacles.

The Carl Hester aspect is interesting, he trained with CD, he owns her yard - he appears on social media to have put his horses welfare first....As a PP said, it could well be the tip of the iceberg.

I was going to heartily agree with you but then remembered that the IOC has a reputation for corruption and other shady dealings that none of the national federations in question could possibly match!

A few months ago I read an article about the Cesar Parra scandal that discussed how longer suspensions and stricter penalties should be implemented to better protect horses from abusive training methods. One trainer floated the (imo excellent) idea of not just suspending the riders but also their horses for a prolonged period of time. That way the horse couldn’t just be sold / loaned to another rider as has happened in past abuse cases. This would massively hurt the owners financially and incentivise them to ensure no dodgy training methods are employed by the riders.

Bloody hell ToxicChristmas poor horse. That’s vile.

RSPCA do not imho have a good record with equines.

@SnowDiaries
You are right. As with everything else it's going to come down to money. Dressage generates much less revenue for the IOC than the other equestrian sports. This may - hopefully - be the last time it features as an Olympic sport.

It is just such a shame for the poor horses involved.