What does it matter if 2.5 years have passed? Charlottes behavior is atrocious and abusive towards the horse. It should be put in the spotlight and condemned, period. Time passed is irrelevant.
The video is much worst then I thought. I’m really disappointed that such a talented and knowledgeable rider would stoop to using such unfair and abusive tactics. Hate to see Charlotte fall, but if we don’t shun these types of players, they will sabotage and destroy the sport for everyone else.
100% this. Bad behavior is totally rewarded in yhe horse world, in all disciplines. Anytime money and an animal’s interest collide, the animal loses. And the horse world, with virtually zero licensing/standards lets anyone hang out a shingle and call themselves a trainer. People who are manipulative (stealing clients, drugging horses, screwing people over etc etc) are rewarded. If they are good at the manipulatng, they get the clients! They win the ribbons with the drugged horses (yes, even at recognized shows)! And that’s even before we get to the animal abuse.
I am sick of the bad behavior in this industry.
Or PETA. Or anyone with an agenda against horse sports or the use of any animals in sport.
Well if it was indeed Alicia reporting it, that puts to bed the rumors it was someone trying to sabotage the olympics to give their own team a better chance
So explain the brutality foisted upon western pleasure horses in pursuit of low and flat and slow.
This isn’t brain injury, this is greed and ego.
I don’t know. I’ve never seen whipping a horse like that in any barn I’ve been in and could not stay at one. And yes, likely releasing the video now is strategic. I could care less. That it was done years ago or not. Seeing her do this tells me she probably has done it many more times than once.
This is so shocking and sad. The video is damning and not at all what I expected from her. I attended a two day clinic with her and yes there was lot of yee-haw go forward, but no abuse. She was kind and funny. Now, she has lost everything. Her damehood, her sponsorships, her reputation. There are headlines in major newspapers about removing equestrian sports from the Olympics.
I hope this will be a good lesson for any trainer. Don’t be stupid! Stop before you lose your temper. Know that eyes are on you all the time. If you have to use violence to get a result, you have let your emotions take over or are extremely lacking in skills and knowledge.
This is exactly what my mom said! How is it any different than Big Lick! Just keep smacking to get those hocks higher!
It sounds like she did reach out to some people asking for advice and they told her to keep quiet.
We’ve already read several people in this thread saying they’ve seen questionable behavior and didn’t report it.
Ultimately, what’s the point of questioning the motive/timing of the whistleblower? The bottom line is they did end up doing the right thing and now hopefully appropriate actions will be taken.
Wait, “horses don’t understand kindness”?
Are you freaking kidding me??? Are you a trainer?
The other part of your post, I agree with. If it’s a matter of safety, of course it’s fine to whack a horse so they don’t, say, run you over. My personal rule of thumb is, if there’s a situation in which one of us is going to get hurt, it isn’t going to be me. But protecting yourself is a far cry from abusive training methods!
This is, quite possibly, one of the most unhinged thing I have ever read on CoTH… And that is really saying something 
Source?
It’s not, and all the abuse needs to be called out and stopped!
I was specifically talking about dressage riders, especially those who pride themselves on being able to sit the big trots of modern competition dressage horses.
I find the Western horses jogs to be easier on my back because those horses’ hind legs do not PUSH as much at any speed of trot. Even with them I limit sitting the trot.
I’ve seen several posters here reference the fact that she lost her temper or got to this point or was taking out her frustrations on the horse.
I saw something very different. She is so cool and casual in her violence against that horse that it strikes me as far more likely that this was business as usual, not a crime of passion, if you will.
Watching her hit that horse repeatedly in the absence of other signs of anger (raised voice, red in the face, spectators reacting with laughter and chatting, not silence while someone has temper tantrum, ect.) was the most chilling part of it, for me.
I’ll add my voice to those saying they’ve never seen anything like this in their equestrian experience.
I don’t get the point of saying, ‘I wonder how many of you [us little people I guess?] have ever been at an upper level barn’. So what? Why should this change our genuine reactions to abuse? If it changes yours b/c you are in BNT/upper-level land than that’s a you problem, not those of us who are horrified and for whom this behaviour has not been normalised.
It’s like me scoffing, ‘You all act like you’ve never eaten three meals in one day at Michelin-starred restaurants 
’ just b/c I live in one of the food capitals of the world and even my local pizzeria has a Michelin star.
Upper level is a place few people get to. If those of us below that level (or nowhere even near it) don’t and haven’t seen this 
and find it horrific, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. It is OUR reaction that should be normalised, not the acceptance of those among us who have been in the rarified upper-level facilities and see it day in/day out at every single facility they’ve been to.
It’s not at all farcical to either recoil in horror or state factually that we’ve never been in the presence of such behaviour for those of us among the great unwashed outside the upper-level barn bubble.
Very good point. Chilling.
And you’re saying nothing because …?
I was speaking in general terms. Mostly because I have seen this in real life. in fact 45 years worth of being around dressage trainers. I saw horses that freaked out at the end of their test because they knew they were going to be violently schooled afterward. Trainers that were too ambitious and pushed too hard. Despite this, I did work with good people. I avoided the bad trainers.
This was my gut reaction as well. There are a few BNT / riders that I would not be surprised had a video like this, but I thought Charlotte, while not perfect, was one of the good ones. Crap ‘training’ like this comes only from ignorance (backyard trainers) or impatience (BNT trying to get a big result to justify their price tag? BNT burnt out on teaching lessons?) Charlotte knows better. Its inexcusable.
I told non-horsey DH that this was the equivalent of a well-respected sports star like Clayton Kershaw admitting to doping. Someone that you thought played the game earnestly and was a good example younger generations could look up to was just revealed to taking cheap and damaging shortcuts that undermine the whole spirit of the sport. I’m no hero worshiper - but it seems like it is harder to find good examples of horsemanship in the Pro/GP levels.
Agreed. If we need to beat, choke, pony kick and spur horses to get GP international level work - then its not worth doing. Dressage is supposed to make the horse better, not make them break down mentally and physically. I’d be happy to see the leg-moving, toe-flinging ‘brilliance’ exit stage left in favor of less tense, happier horses.
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