Charlotte withdrawing from Olympics?

[LiberalSnowflake]

“Glamorous dressage trainer …” - she’s making sure she gets her 15 minutes of fame.

Trainer who saw Dujardin whipping horse denies being whistleblower

[Knights_Mom]

@Alterration

Comparative “badness” is an interesting thought experiment and often a way for us to avoid our own feelings of shame.

“I’m not like Joe, he drinks two 6 packs a day, I only drink one so I can’t be an alcoholic”

Obviously (I hope it’s obvious) I’m not accusing you of being a horse abuser, nor am I justifying what Charlotte has done.

It just doesn’t do us any good to pat ourselves on the back and say “at least I’m not as bad as Charlotte”. It would be time better spent thinking about the ways in which we might be unfair to the horses in our charge and how we might remedy that.

From a horse’s POV the problem was less about the whip contact and more about the unfairness of the action (if you will). If the horse had been sensitive to the whip, the action would have been abusive even if she never made contact because there was no clear correct answer.

That’s a nuance that is not well understood outside our world. Heck, it’s a nuance that many horse people don’t get. Probably worth our focus.

Thankfully my brain is fully functioning and I considered my own actions in the past. In fact in 2012 I blogged about it. I asked every reader to consider every action taken around horses and ask if there was a better way for them to do it.

I have fully acknowledged what I’ve done. Still not at this level. Still not this bad.

[Knights_Mom]

@Jealoushe

My issue with the whole thing is she made her image on saying she uses kindness and softness to train horses. We now see that was a total farce PR act. People who aren’t aggressive to horses don’t suddenly one day at a clinic act that way. That was definitely a tool in her tool box she brought into play.

Her image she had worked hard for years to develop was built on lies.

I can’t tell you how much it hurts me to say these things.

I can’t tell you how much it hurts me to agree with you saying those things!

[Knights_Mom]

@barnesthenoble

@Jealoushe

she made her image on saying she uses kindness and softness to train horses.

Is this a narrative she created by saying these things, or were these things said about her because her horses looked so much more relaxed and less mechanical than what else was winning at the time? I’m not saying she didn’t benefit from this being the narrative, or that she didn’t capitalize on the perception–but I don’t recall if she drove the narrative by making statements claiming how much kinder and softer she is, or if that sort of rose up around her. Reading articles about her clinics and such, I’ve always gotten the impression that she’s very matter-of-fact about being as soft as you can but as loud as you need to in order to be effective.

Not justifying the behavior either way, and I’m totally open to being wrong. I haven’t read her book or much in the way of interviews with her so I have no idea if she’s actually said she’s so much softer and kinder than other trainers at the upper levels. I do agree that she was perceived that way until a few days ago, though.

Carl was the one saying how horse friendly they are. That’s what I remember. It was always him on social media, never her.

[Nous]

This is the letter (allegedly) to The Horse Magazine which was referenced in the (now deleted or restricted) FB post I linked to.

If she was the one who released the video I guess she didn’t think about the potential consequences for herself.

[Knights_Mom]

@KyrieNZ

TL:DR

Let those without sin cast the first stone. We’re human, we make mistakes. I have seen worse, but that doesn’t make it right. Hers is videoed and shared online. She has owned up to it.

The person videoing and laughing is not doing the situation any favours.
The person who waited four years to report it is not doing the situation any favours.

Charlotte has lost sponsorship from Fairfax Saddles, and Charles Owen helmets. Let us not forget she led the change from top hats to safety helmets. She has done some good in the equine world.

I hope she is getting the support she needs. She is being bullied, and that is not right. That in itself is abuse.

Bullied? I think not. Reaping what she sowed? Absolutely

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

I really don’t see anyone in this thread or online justifying what she did (although there are so many responses I might not have read every single one letter-perfect)!

But I am one of the people who do wonder what came before this, and after, what was the purpose of the lesson, why someone (the person laughing, nervously or not) chose to film this particular sequence and not others in the lesson. Not because I am looking for excuses, but because I’m human and curious.

I would also like to know how the horse and young rider are doing today.

[endlessclimb]

I’ll go against what some people have said/implied here. I have no problem making meaningful contact with a lunge whip to get forward or NO across (looking at you, horse who would turn into the lunge circle and try to kill you).

The difference is - ONCE, and you don’t even need to swing hard to make that kind of meaningful contact. That’s it. If a horse won’t move forward or away from a single contact, there is something else wrong. Same with leg = forward. If leg doesn’t get them forward they get a meaningful tap with a whip. I refuse to nag a horse.

Why someone would follow a horse around an arena hitting them over and over and OVER again is absolutely beyond me. Nothing even remotely positive was coming from this, from the idea inception to execution. She knew better than this yet did it anyways.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

I’m curious about the legal implications of all this.
I know there are rules about excessive use of the whip in shows.
But are there any rules about lessons? Or when it happens on show grounds but outside of the ring?

Do we punish the mother of the rider for not intervening ?
Do we punish barn workers , grooms, bystanders for not intervening if they see abusive behavior?

[Old_Mac_Donald]

@GraceLikeRain

I am not on social media but I haven’t seen a single bullying post in over 700 on this thread.

So I made a comment over two weeks ago on a video she posted of her daughter. It was super cute and I posted something appropriately sweet. People have gone over every post of hers with a fine tooth comb, found my comment (amongst hundreds) and slammed me. Sorry for not being a psychic, mate. What did I do to you (the posters) that made you attack me as though I was responsible for this mess?

That’s just ridiculous; people are in a feeding frenzy and are posting the most vicious disgusting things. Like reporting her for child abuse, stating that she should die, that she whips her child.

Edit: You aren’t on SM - be grateful for that. Really. I have actually taken a break from it because of the above. It makes the US politic stuff that occasionally comes across my feed look like children’s cartoons.

[libgrrl]

I’m seeing that too on Facebook. It’s getting excessive and ridiculous.

[TwiSedai]

My emotions on this have run the full gamut. I still think 100% she should face consequences. It wasn’t appropriate, no one is disputing that.

But I do understand feeling the pressure of making progress, especially while being watched. I had an incident yesterday that made me think about THIS incident. I’ve been working with a horse that is very difficult to load on the trailer at our barn. Numerous people and trainers have tried, using all sorts of methods, some pretty harsh, with explosive results. I won’t go into details, but the girl leasing this horse asked me to help about a month ago, and we have made HUGE progress. The horse’s owner and another lady that rides her were watching us work with her yesterday. They are fully supportive of the slower method we are taking, and majorly impressed with the progress we have made. But there was one point, when the horse was nearly all the way in, that I suddenly felt that pressure with the others watching to push hard for that final step. It reminded me a bit of this whole scenario, and I knew if I did that it would hardcore backfire with this horse, so I pushed it back down and resisted the urge. But man, it is hard being watched and knowing people are hoping for results. Not even expecting results, just HOPING for results. I can’t imagine the pressure of being at that top level and knowing you are expected to fix all the things quickly, with an audience.

I want to emphasize, I am NOT justifying her actions. So please don’t claim that I am. And we don’t know even if that’s what happened in this case, and I’m not saying it is. All I’m saying is, IF it is, I have a bit more sympathy for her, while still being disappointed she wasn’t able to resist the pressure.

Hopefully this makes sense, it’s early and I haven’t had coffee yet. If you read this and take it to be me defending her, just know that’s not the intent, I just suck at communicating thoughts sometimes.

[Sticky_Situation]

That came across my social media feed too… there was a post from a week or two ago, pre-video, with her daughter and people were going through putting “angry face” emojis on every single somewhat good-natured comment that had been made toward her.

I hate the mob-with-pitchforks aspect of social media. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she’s receiving death threats etc.

That doesn’t mean I think she shouldn’t have very serious consequences, or that people shouldn’t be allowed to state their opinions like they’re doing here or choose to not do business with her. Suspension, loss of clients, loss of sponsors … all fair game and justified.

But if I’m not a fan of the modern equivalent of public stoning, in which she (and likely her family) is constantly harassed by strangers who merely want to tell the world that they’re better than her.

[Knights_Mom]

I bet that whipped horse wishes he could have been hit with frowny face emojis instead.

(If horses knew of emojis of course!)

Frowny faces are not bullying.

[Jealoushe]

Interesting! I’m on social media and have not seen anything like that but so also have not been checking her old posts or engaging in a hate campaign lol

[TimeForAHorse]

Completely agree - there is A LOT we can learn from many zoo’s very science-backed approaches to enrichment, cooperative care, and other training!

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

And so many people in my feed posting photos of Valegro saying how the abusive techniques she used are obvious, when before she was the darling of so many dressage riders.

Charlotte and Carl were the stars of a UK reality TV show Dressage Superstars, and they are used to having cameras watching them all the time, which makes this more surprising, the more I think of it. They are also very much a unified brand in many people’s minds–this will be difficult for him in many ways. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y9TccAX4J8

[Knights_Mom]

He sure is in a pickle. And now that he has signed that document, I find myself feeling like the character Nagina. If he signed, I fault him. If he did not sign, I’d fault him.

And that’s probably unfair, but I truly feel both ways. Schrodingers Hester

https://www.tiktok.com/@shadowwing77/video/7244145724521270574

[2tempe]

So while I wait for laundry to dry, here’s where we seem to be:

1. Everyone agrees that CD’s actions were bad/wrong/excessive. There is a range of bad to really really awful.
2. Many would like more context - around that day and lesson, are other incidents known, what was she thinking (or not). My guess is that we will not get that, Charlotte’s message is out there, the details of investigation will likely be kept private.
3. Some posters are both sympathetic to her and disturbed/disappointed/angry that this event clearly occurred. Conflicting emotions. I am probably one of those.
4. The suspension for now is 6 months. That could change. Sponsors, rightly, are gone, and likely some clients.

What hasn’t been discussed much here is what is final penalty likely to be, or what do people want to see. Longer ban? Lifetime ban? Should she leave Hester’s yard (voluntarily or not) ? Her career at least in the nearer term is effectively done. Can she rebuild her image a year or two down the road?

[Mondo]

I’m just going to put this here. Maybe put down your pitchforks and torches for a second and read it.

Wayne Lourens

nsteorpSod1heM6mrha0i310f i d70l63se2uhYt:ai19cta3aAafg52hy ·

More sound support for Charlotte Dujardin, with VERY applicable comments!!!

Ethan Romas-Hill

As many of you may have heard, Charlotte Dujardin has a suspension from FEI competition and has had to pull out of the Paris Olympics. This news is deeply unsettling, and as a Vet with a commitment to animal welfare, and also dressage trainer who wants dressage to actually have a future, I feel compelled to speak up.

In the horse world, we witness numerous practices that often go unchallenged. From overfeeding horses into metabolic disease and induced laminitis, to lunging them for hours before a competition, secret water fasting, and even Botox injections into tails to stop them from swinging. Insulin and steroid hormones are administered frequently, and the use of Acepromazine at smaller competitions is widespread and almost a cultural norm in some disciplines. These are not secrets; they happen right before our eyes, yet no one speaks up until it is the flavour of the month to hate people we don’t even know.

Now, a video from four years ago resurfaces, and suddenly, we’re targeting one of the most accomplished and respected riders in our sport. Everyone’s memory is so short… I understand I might be putting my head on the chopping block here, and as a veterinarian, I expect some backlash. But I can’t sit back and watch this kind of bullying unfold. I’m not really going to comment too much on what happens in the video, because that’s not what this is about. This is about the human component here. The double standards, the self righteousness, and the aggressive cancel culture.

Is what Charlotte is seen doing in the video right? Probably not. But context matters, and we lack it here. It feels suspiciously timed, just enough to push her out of the way for the upcoming Olympics.

I see more damage done to horses daily by riders using ill-fitting saddles or feeding poor diets out of frugality. I am not condoning the actions in the video, but let’s be real: Charlotte Dujardin has done more for the appreciation of harmony in modern dressage than any other rider. She made wearing a helmet “cool,” leading to the banning of the top hat and improving the safety of our sport.

This is a video from 2.5 or 4 years ago. Reflect on who you were 4 years ago; chances are, you’ve grown and changed. The most crucial aspect of training horses is acknowledging our humanity, learning from our mistakes, and committing to not repeating them. We can’t change the past, but we can forgive ourselves and strive for better.

I take mental health seriously. Before you type or speak, remember that relentless online trolling can have devastating effects. Charlotte Dujardin has improved the lives of countless riders and horses through her teachings. Let’s show some human decency and focus on constructive actions, rather than relentlessly attack, until it’s no longer on trend, and everyone forgets about this. This is literally what happened every time something like this comes up. Time to break the cycle of extreme criticism and cancel culture of people we don’t even know.

It’s also worth noting that Charlotte has lost her sponsorship from Charles Owen helmets, a brand she popularised in my opinion. She is the reason Charles Owen remains a top choice for riders across generations and disciplines. Very disappointing to see how easily discarded she was and I’ll always keep this in mind when purchasing a helmet.

Let’s put down the pitchforks and torches. Remember, there is a real human behind this. Let’s commit to kindness, and basic human decency.

Anyone who misses the point, and wants to try to justify bullying in the comment section here, please take a walk. This post is not for you. Your time will be wasted because your comment will be deleted.