In the realm of the Olympics, universal truths serve as a guiding light, navigating through uncertainties. While athletes gauge their triumphs in terms of gold, silver, and bronze, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) maintains a starkly pragmatic perspective on the bottom line.
The athletic realm was taken aback when a four-time Olympic victor confessed to feeling ‘profoundly regretful.’ This confession came in response to a video forwarded by Dutch lawyer Stephan Wensing to international regulatory authorities, showing the athlete harshly flogging the horse’s legs during practice.
The champion’s six Olympic accolades have yielded substantial monetary gains, with various official sponsors backing her, among them elite equestrian brands Charles Owen and Le Mieux.
The future of the sport of dressage in the Olympic sphere is uncertain and not without precedent. The turbulence stems from the FEI’s position on the watch list due to fears around tarnishing the reputation of the event, particularly in the mission to connect with younger spectators.
Wensing, speaking to The Independent, asserted that this incident involving Dujardin was not a solitary event in dressage. In his view, it was merely ‘the tip of the iceberg,’ and he didn’t anticipate it being the final cautionary tale. Hence, Wensing believes more athletes are likely troubled by what unfolded.
According to Wensing, dressage is caught in a culture of apprehension, the main reason his client chooses to stay under the radar. However, the current state of affairs cannot continue, as they represent animal cruelty rather than sporting excellence.
He conveyed his disapproval that a sport like dressage can be coupled with animal maltreatment, expressing his discomfort at the idea of witnessing another potential Olympic gold win amid such circumstances. Wensing believes that if high-grade sports necessitate compromising the welfare of the horse, they should cease to exist— a point that now confronts the FEI and the IOC.
The current dilemma echoes familiar concerns. Earlier this year, Isabell Werth, a seven-time Olympic dressage champion, penned a letter to FEI president Ingmar de Vos and secretary-general Sabrina Ibanez, raising her anxieties about the future of the sport following a series of animal cruelty cases.
Werth sounded a warning bell for the sport, characterizing it as in ‘grave peril.’ She worried about the recurring scandals and the sport’s deteriorating reputation threatening its continuity — and potentially marking the end of dressage as an Olympic discipline.
Notably, equestrian culture is often characterized by nepotism, with premier dressage horses carrying price tags of up to £200,000. This creates an environment where wealth and connections tend to dominate, a trend that Dujardin managed to resist. However, these amounts of money induce enormous pressures to perform.
Earlier this year, a shocking revelation of dated footage from American dressage rider Cesar Parra’s stables came to light. The footage showed him consistently lashing out and even kicking his horses, raising serious ethical questions.
The dressage industry was profoundly altered over a decade ago when the FEI outright banned the contentious training method known as Rollkur. This highly controversial method has the rider pull the horse’s mouth far down using the reins, causing the horse to nearly bite its own chest.
Equestrian sports enjoy the patronage of high-profile Olympic movement supporters, such as Anne, Princess Royal, a European champion and practising Team GB Olympian in eventing. Yet, they must also grapple with the potential consequences if further welfare scandals occur.
Two years back, the sport encountered an upheaval when two-time Olympic eventing champion Mark Todd found himself compelled to apologize following the release of a TikTok video displaying his aggressive behavior towards a horse. Similarly, during the Tokyo Olympics, Kim Raisner, a German modern pentathlon coach, underwent suspension for striking a horse during the competition’s show-jumping segment.
IOC president Thomas Bach expressed his stern sentiment that the industry needs significant reform. Subsequently, in Paris, horse riding will be excluded from the modern pentathlon, to be substituted by a Ninja Warrior-like obstacle course. The FEI soon may find itself under comparable scrutiny, with the less financially rewarding discipline, dressage, potentially bearing the brunt of changes. In the unfolding events, Dujardin may find herself sharing part of the responsibility.
A Blemished Legacy: Olympic Equestrian Faces Criticism Over Animal Cruelty appeared first on Real News Now.
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