Me too please. TIA
Listen, I pony kicked my horse ONE time the other day and felt terrible about it instantly.
I know you posted this comment before the video was released, but after seeing the video, I know FULL WELL I wouldâve felt guilty after the first strike of the lunge whip. She. Kept. GOING.
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Not if this was business as usual.
Business as usual.
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Clearly you havenât been playing with really good quality longe whips. They can leave a damned long welt if you accidentally (or purposely 
) whack instead of flicking or brushing or cracking/whistling behind the horse.
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Spot on!
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I hate the Canadian geese that land in the pastures pooping on everything and I will run out there like a lunatic cracking the lunge whip to get them to fly away (not hitting them though) and I have accidentally whipped myself, it HURTS!
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Me too. I have a slow to move PSSM horse and after two requests for trot I do whack with the stick. Once. Then transition down and do it again and donât need the stick. Weâve ALL made mistakes and gotten angry. At least most of us. ButâŠto whip and whip and whip. I still cannot believe Charlotte would do such a thing but there it is and thank GOD for Steve Jobs and video on our phones.
Iâm done. I canât go to QH Congress because I cannot watch how the pleasure people treat those beautiful horses. Itâs no different.
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Every time these videos surface and get discussed on here I wonder how many of you have ever been at an upper level barn. Admittedly, I am from H/J land and reside in the horse capital of the world, Wellington. I have seen horse abuse at every single barn I have boarded at that had seasonal clients. Every. Single. One. So the above comment about business as usual is probably correct. Do I think she beats horses at every ride? No. But she isnât the first trainer who takes out her frustration on a horse. Not by a long shot. In the past I have taken my frustrations out on a horse and I can admit it. I am in no way saying this behavior is ok, ever. But to live in this fantasy world some of you guys live in to say this doesnât ever happen is a farce.
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Yes I spent many years at a top barn and have worked for/ with a lot of the BN dressage trainers. I have seen poor personal behavior from some of them, I have seen some be much harder on horses than I would be but I have NEVER witnessed any of them doing something like this.
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Well this just makes me sad. That was really awful to see. I do question why you would wait until NOW to release this if your true concern is for the welfare of the animal. I think disappointed is a better word than sad. Sad for the horse, disappointed in a human.
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Also, donât we constantly hear the message that you must be teachable, donât disrespect the trainer, etc etc etc. Thereâs always been a culture of âdonât question, just do what youâre toldâ in many sports.
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Have you reported any of it?
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I read that the client that sent in the video was Alicia Dickinson from Your Riding Succes⊠anyone know if this is true?
Horses donât really understand kindness.
Edit for clarification because people keep (intentionally, IMO) misinterpreting this: Obviously, horses understand when they are doing something they like or donât like. They donât understand things like favors or complex generosity. They do understand intent, to an extent.
They arenât nice to each other. They do understand fairness. I have cracked a young and emotional or disobedient horse in the butt or even the shoulder when it was a matter of safety. For example, on the longe line. You might have to do it twice on a particularly testy horse. I didnât feel good about it when I did it or even right before I did it. But it was fair and I didnât have to do it again.
24 times when the horse clearly doesnât understand whatâs being expected? Not fair.
The rider is holding the horse back and I think Charlotte is trying to get him forward. Iâm sure she was frustrated with rider and took it out on the horse instead. Not an excuse. Teach the rider to allow the horse to go forward. What is the rush?
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I do question why you would wait until NOW to release this if your true concern is for the welfare of the animal.
Answered by the lawyer in this article (he also disputes CDJâs claim that it was 4 years ago, which wouldâve been during COVID lockdown, and says according to client it was 2.5 yrs ago): https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/charlotte-dujardin-lawyer-clarifies-key-points-864795
Excerpt:
Many equestrian fans, and others, have questioned the timing of the release of the video, so close to the Paris Olympics where Charlotte may have become Britainâs most medal-winning female athlete.
âAt the time [the video was recorded] my client was thinking this must be normal,â he said. âThen there was some doubt and she began thinking this isnât okay. She spoke with a few people in the dressage industry who warned her not to do anything because theyâll come after you.
âShe was also afraid of victim-blaming so she didnât do anything with it. But then two other riders were suspended, so she became a little braver.
âThen a few weeks ago she hired me as her lawyer to submit a formal complaint to the FEI. But she was still doubting whether or not it was the right decision for a few reasons.
âFirst of all, itâs not that sheâs celebrating this and drinking champagne, sheâs aware thereâs a human aspect to this story. The other thing is that she was afraid the FEI wouldnât take her seriously. Itâs not easy to make a step like this.â
Mr Wensing described comments suggesting that the timing of the complaint was designed to sabotage Britainâs medal hopes as âridiculousâ.
âIf she wanted to release this at the worst possible time, she would have done it during or after the Olympics. That wouldâve been the worst scenario for the British team â at least now they have an alternate that can come in and it doesnât harm them that much."
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Oh gosh, thatâs amazing and thanks so much for getting the right link shared - and for writing a wonderful article! It was something I shared on my own FB page closer to when you originally wrote it, as it really resonated with me at the time and still does. (Sorry about the link, I guess Iâm not nearly as social media-savvy as I could beâŠ)
I would love to connect and pick your brain sometime if youâd be interested - you do some R+ with horses, right?
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A lot of us (myself included) in this thread have recounted stories of witnessing behavior from upper level trainers that was inappropriate. How many of us have reported it? And moreover, until the Helgstrand and Cesar Parra incidents, who would we have reported it to and what would have been done? It is a very, very recent development to see dressage organizations taking action based on what happens in a private barn on a video - and I am happy to see the change.
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This is not fair, appropriate or even effective dressage training, despite if CD is using a hand made custom whip or one from Tractor Supply. You say you arenât trying to justify the behavior but I canât think what else this would be.
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The lawyer and the client can say whatever they would like to say and Iâm not saying they shouldnât have done this but they cannot claim that itâs about the welfare of horses and then sit on it for 2.5 years. Surely, in those 2.5 years the thought must have come to the client that this was not right. Thatâs a long time. Iâm not saying that it didnât need to come to light as it surely did but I am questioning the timing of it all.
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Thatâs what I start thinking. This shit is going on in every barn pretty much isnât it? Wow.
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