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.

The video is here:

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/olympian-charlotte-dujardin-admits-error-of-judgement-as-horse-whip-video-emerges/cn1rn9d

My understanding is that in dressage the aids are very very precise and spurs can help with that.

In a kids riding school appropriate use of the whip may be better for the horse than an unskilled rider continuously flapping about with their legs. Or they may just be sad horses who no longer listen to anything else.

Shame. If she'd been a convicted paedophile she'd have been ok to compete.

The most controversial man at the Olympics: Mail Sport tracks down convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde as he arrives in Paris amid fury at the Dutch volleyball star's participation in the Games | Daily Mail Online

Just seen the clip, it's very difficult to imagine that this is a one off. It seems to be acceptable in some equestrian circles. Hopefully this has lifted the lid on what goes on behind closed doors.

That’s her professional career finished..

felt to be sabotage as it is released now

I wonder if it was the opposing countries who released it now -there’s little time to get a replacement

So the ITV presenter says the whip is used to let the horse know its there and a light tap on the rump is ok..... so ok to induce fear into the animal...

Perhaps her producer could give a light tap on her arse if she makes a mistake on the show.... how would she like it?

If the only way to ride a horse is to use the whip, perhaps riding horses should be banned.

they do! my SIL rides her horse in just a headcollar. she has clicker trained him. he won't win medals but their symbiotic relationship is wonderful to see

She’s sabotaged her own career, and yes watching it she looks so calm I suspect that’s not a lapse of judgment in training method at all…

@Willmafrockfit
Who cares?
She is the author of her own downfall.
Hopefully others will now speak up about the animal abuse that seems to be openly accepted in this so-called ‘sport’.

i am simply quoting

Thanks. A headcollar is a bridle without a bit, right?

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Yes definitely. I use R + (Positive reinforcement) training with mine & they respond & learn better than with traditional methods.

Look up LIMA training (least invasive minimally aversive), Lucy Chester horsemanship has a horse that moves beautifully doing dressage trained using these methods.

You just would not be able to compete at grand Prix using these methods.

The video was on GMB. She follows the horse calmly with a lunge whip striking him repeatedly across the backs of his legs while he tries to canter away and kicks out repeatedly.

Watched it on the daily mail. This must have been quite a scary experience for the 19 year old whistleblower. It's abusive. And so very casually done. 😮

She uses that whip with both hands to get maximum force behind it. That poor confused animal.

Evil bitch.

I truly hope that's the end of her career.

There really is no defending that - plenty of people will probably still try

A headcollar is a little bit like a bridle but it's more commonly used to lead horses from the ground because they're very loose around the head so they don't confer much control and definitely not from the horses back.

A hackamore is a bridle without a bit but it still has a noseband and it's worn more tightly against the horses head, so it can put pressure on the horses face in different ways. If you ride in a headcollar it's hard to apply pressure to the horses face so you have to rely on your legs and your seat much more than if you're riding in a traditional bridle or a hackamore.

Dear god. That video is awful. Lapse of judgement my arse. Shame she didn’t get kicked.

A lunge whip is supposed to be used as an aid when lunging a horse, which means the horse is on a very long lead rope and works in a big circle around the person - the idea is that because the horse is not next to the rider, the whip is used as an extension of your arm along with your voice to give the horse the signal to do things. It's a long solid stick with a long bit of rope or cord sticking out. If a horse has been trained properly, it shouldn't be afraid of the whip because in the right hands it's just a training aid.

So if you wanted the horse to go up a pace from walk to trot, you might flick the rope end of the whip behind the horse but nowhere near it, while you say your verbal command at the same time. The noise of the whip is part of the aid. You might use the very end of the whip to lightly touch the horse to get it to move further out, like a light poke - you wouldn't be close enough to use your hand to do it. Usually just holding the whip slightly behind the horses rear quarters to create a triangle between you, the front of the horse and the back of the horse is enough to let the horse know you want him moving forward.

There's never any excuse for what she did. Even though it's called a whip, you should never be actually whipping the horse with it.

You wouldn't ride with a lunge whip, but it would be pretty difficult to lunge without one and there's all sorts of reasons why you might want to lunge your horse rather than ride it - improving the bond with the horse, young horse, retraining the horse, horse or rider recovering from injury, wanting to exercise it, improving the horses balance, horse or pony too small or unfit to ride, improving the horse's confidence, training an inexperienced rider, improving the horses reactions to non ridden aids - just for a start.

I don't condone what CD did in that video but cannot 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.

For those of you saying that dressage movements are 'unnatural', please watch a horse move around a field - the most thickset and inelegant of ponies and horses will produce the most beautiful trots, canters, piaffes (slow and elevated trot on the spot), passage (very elevated trot moving forward) movements (what CD was supposedly 'training' this horse to do) naturally but the minute a rider gets on their back their balance is shot to pieces and they can't do it, The skill of a proper rider is to get the horses doing the movements they do so naturally whilst carrying a human - its not easy and some people take horrific shortcuts.

I am totally ashamed of the way that I rode and behaved towards my horses and ponies when I was younger (teens and 20s) but I didn't know any better and unfortunately it was the way things were in those days. My dad still rides at Advanced level dressage aged 79 (horse is 21) and gets such beautiful work out of his mare because 1. they have an amazing relationship and 2. he only ever asks, never demands, that she does what he would like her to do!

OK I have just seen the video and watched a snippet of the lawyer whose client submitted the film.

What CD did is totally unacceptable. No
excuses. It’s not the correct way to train a dressage horse.

And I’m afraid I agree with pps that very sadly this doesn’t look like a one off. The lawyer said his client had witnessed this behaviour repeatedly but only had proof in one film.

Tbh I was expecting CD to have lost her patience or to have appeared flustered or impatient but she looked chillingly calm and comfortable as though this was “normal” for her.

She has caused her own downfall and her career is over.

I still don’t understand WHY a rider of her talent would choose to resort to those methods though? It’s so disappointing and frankly bewildering to me because I agree with Alice Plunkett that there has to be trust between you and the horse for you to perform consistently well in any equestrian sport.

I think the timing is perfect because without a major backlash these widespread practises won't change.

If this had come out at a different time it would not be as newsworthy.

There are some people who train their horses using positive force and pain free methods. However, this is less widespread than it should be and the brutal bullying approach is still widely accepted.