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.

Looking after horses very well and kindly, so that my dcs see how its done in a respectful way and go on to do that themselves if they should be lucky enough to have horses.

That's worth a thousand angry posts on the internet tbh.

Nothing more from me on the subject, sorry to spoil your fun on this beautiful sunny morning.

Wendycoping
And to stoop to your level, no, I have never hit any of my horses with a whip 24 times in a minute.“

Have you ever used a whip on any of your horses?

Thank you @BodenCardiganNot
.
If we can keep emailing with our concerns with horses safety and welfare and what the charity is actively doing to maintain that.
I am also interested in what investigations have been undertaken by the BD in the very short time frame to ensure the GB Team going to Paris abide by non abusive training methods.

I posted early on that this could be a foreign competitor sabotaging us and lo and behold it's a dutch person who supplied the video

Charlotte sabotaged herself.

Scarletrunner · Today 06:17
"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."

Its simple. Humans can choose to box, climb mountains and so on. Animals can't choose. Don't even try and defend animal abusers by such a specious argument.

if there had been no abuse, there would have been no video....and don't link me with your "us"

What is your exact point here...

That this should all have been swept under the carpet so as not to sabotage 'us' in an upcoming large-scale world event? The timing has been discussed a lot. I wish it had come to light sooner - I can only hope the timing has maximum effect but worry for all those innocent horses that have suffered at the hands of these nut jobs. I doubt anything will change though. A storm in a thimble that after a week fades away like so many other abhorrent acts that get exposed.

In short: Fuck this so-called sport. I will stick to watching willing participants.

I don't often come into the Tackroom as I no longer ride and haven't for ages. I am shocked by the apologists on this thread. Fortunately they don't appear to be the majority.

@Scarletrunner The nationality of the Equine lawyer is Dutch.

The nationality of the "whistleblower" is unknown.

Central to this is the welfare of the horses, which hopefully on the release of the video will start to orchestrate change for the better world wide.

No civilised country wants a medal on the back of horse abuse.

Exactly. Id rather the video was out there, than GB won a hundred gold medals. I don't care who released it or why, or even that its right before the Olympics. It had to be now for maximum impact. Horse welfare has to come first, even before gold medals. Who the fuck wants a gold medal if any part of the process has resulted from horse abuse anyway? It's not something to be proud of.

@Scarletrunner
Good. Am delighted Team GB was sabotaged. I only wish there were more whistleblowers with video evidence who could sabotage all the other people who are abusing horses in the pursuit of medals in this godawful industry.

Me again, I've written to the British Dressage Association on the matter and will be writing to the FEI today. Happy now?

Don't be so utterly ridiculous, she sabotaged herself for the whole world to see

Agree with everything above . . . and am beyond appalled at CD's behaviour. There is no doubt that she is a talented rider - she (and Carl) produced Valegro very well (although I've never liked how fixed in the hand she is) - and there has to be a degree of trust between horse and rider to achieve some sort of "success." However - the horse in the clip doesn't belong to CD - and she wasn't riding it. Without excusing a single thing I've seen, I wonder if she would have had a better outcome if she had shown the student how to achieve more jump behind by riding the horse herself.

Then there's the whole debate about scales of training and patience . . . if the horse AND rider aren't ready for a particular movement, forcing it (whether that's by hitting the horse with a whip, or providing a. n. other shortcut) is both counterproductive and damaging - to both. So I'm not exactly sure what CD was even trying to achieve or teach?

Her career is in tatters - probably over - and rightly so. And this whole sorry debacle has shone a much-needed light on the things that need to change at elite level in equestrian sport - there will be many more videos of other abuse.

What also needs to happen is a complete re-set from riding school, pony club, etc., level up on what is and isn't acceptable, and a complete overhaul of how riding at any competitive level is judged - riding and treatment of horses overall. Make it dressage-legal for riders to use a snaffle, no noseband, or no bit at all. Do away with some of the harder movements. Ensure judging is actually based on harmony and teach judges to fully recognise tension in a horse's body, face and way of going - and to mark riders down when they see it. Stop breeding and producing ridiculous, spidery movement, and start producing a way of going that reflects fitness, suppleness and promotes longevity and long-term soundness.

Please everyone, the subject of this thread is upsetting enough, without fighting between ourselves too.

We all want the same thing; which is to stop cruelty against horses and to improve their overall welfare.

This thread is about CD inflicting cruel abuse on a horse and the wider implications for the sport of dressage as a whole

Posters are coming at this from a wide variety of viewpoints from those who think riding itself is wrong in itself to professional equestrians who compete, and all of those views can be accommodated respectfully. There's no need to massively twist and misrepresent what other posters say in order to to score points as it achieves nothing. We can disagree with one another without being rude.

My personal opinion, and some others, is that CD has imploded and destroyed her own career, reputation and credibility by her own actions - NO EXCUSES - and I don't think nasty pile ons of the vicious variety help anything. Abuse of any kind, whether cruelty to horses, or nasty online trolling are both unacceptable and it should be ok to say that without being labelled an apologist.

What this thread has achieved is that it has lead to one poster researching ways to report abuse to the authorities and others have helped them do that. So I don't want this thread shut down please as there maybe others contemplating the same thing

Remember that CDJ claimed the video is 4 years old, whereas the whistleblower's lawyer says it happened 2 and a half years ago. Did CDJ intentionally lie in her public apology?

She [CDJ] said the video is from four years ago, while Wensing claims its from two-and-a-half years ago.

“My client has visited Charlotte Dujardin’s stable more times and she has seen it [whipping] happen more times,” he said on “Good Morning Britain,

nypost.com/2024/07/24/sports/why-whistleblower-revealed-video-that-took-down-charlotte-dujardin-before-olympics/

Great post . . . back in the day we called warmbloods "dumbbloods" because of their laid back nature. I don't recognise the dressage warmbloods bred for elite level today.

Breed conformation over movement, go back to the scales of training, take more time, expect less/accept the try and generally start treating these horses like . . . well . . . horses! Compassion, patience, turnout. Less is more.

Totally agree with every word of your post SunshineandUnicorns

No doubt someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I think the science is there now that mammals cannot learn properly while afraid so what CD was doing was not only horribly cruel but ineffectual AND stupid. The mind boggles frankly. In the film she seemed to be almost enjoying what she was doing, disgusting behaviour and not the way to train. As you say, forcing any movement through fear is utterly counter-productive.

And I hope, as you say, that this high profile disclosure will encourage others to come forward and report.

Totally agree too that there needs to be a complete worldwide reset of the sport of dressage at every level and that will require a clear out of the current management and hierarchy.

A prestigious venue like Aachen could make a stand and invite competitors to snaffle only, no noseband, or totally bitless competitions and set a new standard.

There isn't any place in equestrianism any more where tack is used to solve problems that can be solved by positive training methods. Surely that is the whole point of dressage in the first place which, as you rightly say, is meant to promote harmony, balance, and lightness of touch.

I would suggest anyone feeling strongly about it also emails them, and copy the editors of the papers that covered the story.
Take 15mins of your weekend to be part of a consolidated stand. Let’s not let the opportunity pass. BD need to wake up to the fact that many of their members are appalled and won’t stand for any more inaction and deflection, particularly the scandalous practice of whistleblower shaming.

Well said @millie101.Emailed earlier thanks to reading this thread.

Great post . . . back in the day we called warmbloods "dumbbloods" because of their laid back nature. I don't recognise the dressage warmbloods bred for elite level today.

Breed conformation over movement, go back to the scales of training, take more time, expect less/accept the try and generally start treating these horses like . . . well . . . horses! Compassion, patience, turnout. Less is more.

More wise words from *SunshineandUnicorns *

and also * powershowerforanhour*

Just as we saw it happening in breeding for dog shows, it has permeated every area of equestrianism. And you add money, accolades and honours in to the mix, the results are disastrous.

For example, Irish cobs (a personal favourite) being bred for their manes and feathers rather than their temperament And the judges rewarding them for it in the show ring despite their really nasty characters. A beautiful breed being systematically ruined.

National Hunt race horses being bred for speed rather than endurance (simplification) which means they have no proper bone or stamina which leads to breakdowns and broken limbs.

When is the penny going to drop that it is our human need for supposedly ever "shower, flashier, faster" that is leading to these abhorrent practices along with our arrogance that whatever we do, we improve on nature?

I know that horses have always evolved alongside man and been been bred for their purpose; take the Irish draught which was handy and adaptable for a farmer to plough the field during the week and ride in to town on a Sunday. But those are common sense characteristics and objective that breed strength and ease of movement which don't ruin their bodies or temperaments. When you start breeding for flashiness and looks the animal is doomed.

This lady has apparently confirmed that she was the rider in the CD video- so not really a naive young girl, although she denys being the person who leaked the video:

https://dressageinstitute.com/meet-alicia/

What makes you think it's her?

Thank you *millie101 and BodenCardiganNot *

Let's highlight this and follow the good example of Floppy12