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.

@ToxicChristmas is this the same horse as in the video?

Does she not deserve to be laid into?

Just catching up on tbread now, I hate them too, I want to see their ears - I used to watch badminton etc in the 90s and they weren't there

They're acoustic so reduce/block sound - which then goes to the question of if you're having to block sound, why is the horse being put in that position in the first place

We then have sj with ear covers, half blinkers, masks and massive bits, and warm ups in draw reins. All very unsavoury...

"Does she not deserve to be laid into?"

Well, sort of...but a wide rethink of the whole Grand Prix dressage world, and maybe all of Olympic equestrian sport is warranted.
Dressage has had the Cesar Parra thing, some Danish rider suspended, blood n' blue tongue, that Andreas Helgstrand horse mill thing (he said they were riding 350 horses a day or something??? Shit, Willie Mullins only has about half as many in training for a sport less intense than dressage). So much money washing about, so much....stuff . Buying, selling, clinics, brand deals, sponsors, launch events, ambassadors, all the whole circus, and winning, winning, winning, all hamsters on the wheel pedalling faster to beat each other. Victoria Pendleton said in interview recently that she came home after coming 4th in a world championships early on and fucked all her stuff in the bin, because you cannot forge a career out of being 4th. Telly needs Our Golden Girl stories.

How to you pick the winner? The human desire for extremes: big trot good, bigger trot better. The Donald Trump of trots. My horse's hocks are highest, his fetlocks flickiest. "So extra", as they say. Somebody said Reiner Klimke would have come nowhere now, and it's true. He was a lawyer, Anna Grethe Jensen was a secretary, and they used the money to look after the fewer horses they had and everything was a bit more relaxed.

I watched some youtube videos of the warm up arena posted by DressageHub and Epona TV over the past few years. I had always thought warmbloods were more phlegmatic characters than TBs but these look bred to be teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown, revved and razzed up to the absolute rafters. They flyleap and buck at times, not like a happy youngster bouncing with exuberance but more like they're in some sort of "Falling Down" headspace. They trot like angry overheated robots with riders' heels niggling, niggling, niggling to get the illusion of fire and flamboyance in the ring. You could bred them a bit less, train and ride them a bit more softly and quietly and consistently come about 14th, or razz the absolute bejasus out of them and shoot for the moon, and sometimes you win and it's worth the risk of them blowing their brains in the ring.

@Wendycoping don't tell me to calm down. I don't need to be patronised by minimisers like you.
I can be as angry as I like. Anyone with an ounce of compassion for animals SHOULD be enraged. And if you're not, you're complicit. Feel sorry for her? Fuck that.

Showjumping too...poles were made lighter and cups shallower to help the horses so they didn't have bonecrunching accidents if they completely missed a fence...but now you can't touch a pole at all. So the horses are so, so exaggeratedly neat with their tucked knees and front feet , and the big airy stifle lift and flick of the back feet. Are they all doing it naturally? Or is the world and his wife rapping the lights out of them as
youngsters? I haven't watched showjumping for a while, do they still come into the ring with invisible draw reins on, do the ritual reining back a few hasty steps then go straight into that painfully slow, hyperflexed rocking horse canter till the rider sees the stride for the first fence and pushes the button?

Eventing is a bit better but even so...like, did the organisers run out of money for fence building materials? Seems like every other obstacle is a combination of two of three elements about 3 feet wide set at weird angles, jeez you nearly risk knocking red and white flags down in one go if you don't keep your toes in.
Land over a fence, ride positively away from it (or just whip the fuck out of it if you're Ollie Townend) , get into a good galloping rhythm to try to make the time, then slap on the anchors and hook right back to showjump one of the Crufts agility combinations (or just skate into it on two wheels and hope for the fucking best if you're Ollie Townend) , then kick on again.

The flow is missing a lot of the time, in Grand Prix dressage, showjumping and XC phase of the eventing.

CDJ lay into that confused frustrated horse without an ounce of compassion.
It was all shark like grinning from CDJ til this broke- she's shown herself to be a horrible bullying ''Nasty girl'' playing to the gallery, her entourage of gigglers -

I don't feel a shred of pity for her, or any one else who abuses animals or children- they have no choice, they are entirely dependent on the ''adults'' in their lives.

The practiced ease, the callous bullying meanness in those sharp cuts - CDJ is lucky that horse was NOT an elephant.

Elephants with their superior brain power have killed cruel mahouts and circus trainers, goaded beyond endurance, they snap.

Tyke was one such elephant.

Dog shows are just as bad- It's an addiction for the owners.
With dogs, at least they can lie down in comfort while traversing the length and breadth of the UK- horses and ponies have to stand and constantly brace themselves in the lorries.

Showing is incredibly expensive, and only the reds matter- Reds and blues- no one wants thirds or fourths.

Each rosette probably costs hundreds if one factors in fuel and entry fees.

When I was a kid, people hacked to local shows- this isn't done anymore {Granted, roads were more peaceful back then}.

The awards at top level are gorgeous though. The Badminton Trophy is beautiful- but at what cost to the horses?

I find this response from the boss of British dressage to be rather tone deaf. I and no doubt many others who are appalled by this woman’s cruelty couldn’t give a toss about the timing of the footage. In fact, the timing couldn’t have been better, since it has achieved maximum publicity and can’t just be swept under the carpet. It has left her reputation and career in tatters and deservedly so.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13674265/British-Dressage-chiefs-ramp-dirty-tricks-row-fallen-Olympics-golden-girl-Charlotte-Dujardins-horse-whipping-video-say-timing-leak-cause-maximum-damage-sport-urge-people-kind-her.html

As for “be kind”, there was not an ounce of kindness in the way she tormented that poor, frightened horse.

But if you ban all hobbies and interests that someone or other finds unpleasant, cruel, bad for the planet, noisy, violent etc etc there'd be knitting, crochet and reading and that's it.
I don't want a world where there's only knitting and crochet and reading.
Think about it. Golf is bad for the environment, animal racing is cruel, keeping dogs and cats cooped up in flats is cruel imv, boxing is violent, rugby is dangerous, road cycling is dangerous, mountain climbing is dangerous, car racing is bad for the planet, target shooting is disliked as it uses guns, ditto crossbow.
Blatant cruelty is wrong but People need to get on with their own lives and let others do the same.

Two fantastic posts, tell it like it is!

Rather than accept what we’ve all for what it is, and then on top have CD admit quite clearly, British Dressage have chosen instead to make their statement all about victim shaming? Straight out of the Donald Trump School of Defense - ignore the action but blame the person making the complaint. I’m appalled with how the powers that be are turning this into a ‘sabotage’ story rather than sort out their own dirty house. Deflection is not a good look nor is it a good defense!

I am glad I am the kind of person who can feel pity for CJD as well as thinking what she did was reprehensible.

At the end of the day we can only judge our own reaction to this, and perhaps, if we own horses, give them an extra cuddle and a treat.

I've found the hysteria on both sides on social media to be disgusting actually. I've deleted my social media for the first time in 15 years and feel slightly better for it.

Can you answer my questions though please?

At the end of the day we can only judge our own reaction to this, and perhaps, if we own horses, give them an extra cuddle and a treat.

Why are you so vociferously judging everyone else's reaction then, and what good will it do to give your horse a cuddle and a treat instead of joining the voices calling for better horse welfare standards in the industry?

Talking about sticking your head in the sand.

I get it, it's disappointing that the British Queen of dressage has been revealed to be the exact opposite of what her PR led us to believe she was. I was a big fan of hers right up until the second i read her statement admitting that whatever she did was bad enough to withdraw from the olympics.

If you can still support her after that, and all you have to add is urging people to #bekind, she has a child, (I'm still not clear on the relevance of this) you're not a horse lover.

what good will it do to give your horse a cuddle and a treat instead of joining the voices calling for better horse welfare standards in the industry?

Why does it have to be one or the other? Perhaps both are possible. Certainly my horse would prefer the first option, as he knows he's already the best looked after horse in the world.

I agree with this and @bluewandas' post.

As I predicted yesterday, reputation PR is in full swing, I work in the sector and know how how it works.

I didn't expect high and mighty individuals from the equestrian world to be challenged about their modus operandi without a dirty fight.

This....all that you have said. Its the same with dog breeding....guinea pig and chicken breeding. Terry Pratchett said in one of his books that all evil starts with treating people as things. I think he was right and I would include animals in that. I do think that CDJ does deserve the media. Live by the sword, die by the sword, but I also agree that she's not the only one and its not the only equine sport that isn't squeaky clean....its also not new. The old ways to teach a horse to lift its legs when jumping were to either put furze or hedgehog skins on the poles or to take the horse over jumps the wrong way so they didn't fall when hit and the horse got an automatic rap on the legs. And don't get me started on the bloodstock INDUSTRY

could you feel pity for a paedophile if they were a wonderful parent?

oooo wrong move by Jason Brautigam!

I do think with these public 'take downs' that we see so much of now (like Philip Schofield, Kevin Spacey etc.) - you do have to bear in mind that there is a human being behind the scandal.

I don't think anyone condones what CJD has done (she admits her wrongdoing). I hate this current fashion of the public pile on though.

Whatever she has done, she has gone from being a 'darling' in the eyes of the British public to an absolute pariah within hours. To the extent that her personal safety is probably at risk. This must have a massively traumatic and detrimental impact - not just to her but to her family. I often think there must be suicide risk in cases like this.

I hate the way she treated this horse but I also hate the way that social media has become so venomous and toxic - with the ability to completely destroy people at whim and so viciously. It is like a public execution.

I think it's quite clear British Dressage will be sweeping this very firmly under the rug.

Pretty much all of those hobbies/interests you've listed don't involve an animal though do they? Boxing, cycling, rugby, mountain climbing etc, all of your examples - they don't have the potential to exploit animals or harm the environment for the most part do they?

I cannot believe you pity her? She's the master of her own destiny. You haven't deleted all your social media though either as you're on here.