Footage released days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris show dressage star Charlotte Dujardin cruelly whipping a horse in a “training” session.
The abusive behaviour by one of Team GB’s iconic Olympians elicited shock and horror.
Media attention focused on Dujardin and her withdrawal from the Olympics. The incident “has cost her a damehood,” reported The Guardian.
The BBC led with Dujardin’s claim that the video represented “an error of judgement.”
Absent from most coverage, however, was the bigger question: why is dressage still allowed in the Olympics?
A rotten sport
Brooke, a horse welfare charity, said it had been “deeply disturbed” by the video and had dropped Dujardin as an ambassador.
While Dujardin deserves the condemnation she is receiving, the issue goes well beyond one isolated case of abuse.
Commenting on the video, PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to “remove equestrian events from the Olympic Games.”
She added: “Horses don’t volunteer—they can only submit to violence and coercion. It’s time for the Olympics to move into the modern era.”
Olympic shame
The IOC is already in turmoil for alleged double standards over Israel.
On Monday, the Palestine Olympic Committee sent a letter to the IOC asking for Israel to be banned. The letter stressed that “approximately 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed, and the destruction of sports facilities exacerbates the plight of athletes who are already under severe restrictions.”
Meanwhile, the inclusion of a convicted child rapist in the Netherlands’ volleyball team has sparked outrage.
Dujardin’s treatment of the horse in the video is far from the worst abuse suffered by animals in the name of “sport.”
The official Paris 2024 website states that equestrian events “showcase the partnership between horse and rider.” In reality, the relationship is one of forced servitude.
Equestrian first featured at the modern Olympics in 1900 in Paris. It should end its Olympic ride in Paris in 2024. ★
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