Charlotte withdrawing from Olympics?

[sascha]

@luvmyhackney

No judgement until video is public.

Heaven and earth will be moved to keep it private no matter how minimal or awful it is. We will likely never see it unless someone else happened to be there on that day also videoing and decides to share their footage. With all the Rabid Animal Rights folks out there, even minimal tapping that led to an exaggerated explosion on the horse’s part would be dangerous for the sport and for CDJ to put out publicly.

@luvmyhackney

4 years ago….thats insane. They weren’t concerned when it happened, only now……figures.

Is the timing terrible and suspect? Absolutely, but I don’t think we can discount them being concerned at the time. Did they know what to do at the time? Possibly not. Did they realize what they were witnessing at that time was wrong? Maybe not. Did they possibly sign a non-disclosure about videoing that they may have thought was binding? Maybe.

Look at how long it took for anything on Parra to be meaningfully brought forward.

[eponacelt]

@seriously1

How concerned can someone be about welfare for horse and rider if they hold on to a video for 4 years and then release it two weeks before the Olympics?

I came here to say this. And now its coming out that it is a Dutch rider/client, so the timing smacks of trying to pull something at the most opportune time for their national team which wasn’t favored to do terribly well this year.

[alicen]

Dutch team:

Netherlands Olympic Dressage Team-Dinja van Liere/Hermes, Hans Peter...

[Larksmom]

what I originally read as ‘slow trotting,’ mst be written by a non horse person. So who knows. I hope it does surface.

[anonevent]

The messenger has no bearing on the content of the video.

[Demerara_Stables]

@Mondo

Yes, because you’ve taught SO many horses to piaffe.

Literally what does my experience have to do with anything?

[Nous]

Epona.tv on Facebook:

We don’t know what’s in the Dujardin video. Or the Cassøe Krüth video. What we do know is that the IOC has postponed the decision whether to include equestrian in the LA28 Olympics until later this year… after Paris. This puts the FEI in an incredibly precarious situation. I would almost say unprecedented. So don’t be surprised if they make rash decisions and throw riders out over things they would usually not crack down on.

Easy does it. Let’s wait and see.

[blue_heron]

Not really sure what either of you are getting at so my response might be repetitive and unnecessary: I usually teach my young horses leg lifts as a gymnastic exercise and to introduce it as a means to piaffe much later. I don’t expect a true piaffe out of it but it gets them to think about the hind legs and it’s something to do on the ground.

My current young horse really couldn’t care less about tickling or tapping with the whip on the hind leg. I’ve taken to irritating her with the longe whip with the lash wrapped around the stick part. It takes forever to get a response. I’d never smack her to get a response, but I could use a whole other thread on people’s tricks for training the piaffe.

[MapleFarm]

It seems a lot of people can’t understand that two things can be true at once. The timing is obviously suspicious - chosen to either eliminate her from competition at the Olympics in the 11th hour or time it for max publicity. But also true at the same time, the video must be bad based on her statement. It isn’t a tapping on the legs that would get her to remove herself… Otherwise every single rider in the Olympics would have undercover videos training piaffe/passage removing them.

For me, I don’t think people change that much in 4 years, especially when they’ve been riding at this level for so long, it isn’t like she’s a kid. But, people also lose their tempers, make mistakes, etc. It’s all speculation without seeing the video and context and/or outcome of the investigation so there isn’t much sense in speculating.

[sascha]

@Fiesta01

Please educate me if I’m missing something.

This whole thing is about a video, not about the article.

[happilyretired]

My thoughts exactly. I know that many pros are now forbidding videos during training sessions. It is far too easy to take one moment out of context. Sad for Charlotte.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Carl taught to “kick forward” years ago - and I do mean years. Back in the day of Horse and Pony magazine (god bless Freddy). There was a lesson with Carl where the horse was lazy. He said “kick!” Don’t nag him, wake him up!

It was with the flat of your calf not the spur, he was very clear about that. It was a single thump of the flat of the boot, designed to surprise the horse. No spur, no whip, no nagging, no bum pushing - kick, “wake up!”, ride forward.

[Little.Wing]

No idea what happened.

Catherine Dufour posted about picking out a new custom finesse bridle for “Free” before making their debut in international competition together… on 24 December 2023. So I’d guess the horse came to her not too long before that.

[Omnia]

Regarding timing (“why NOW and not four years ago”):

When I was growing up and learning dressage, it was very common to see horses being “whacked” during in-hand/under saddle piaffe training. Especially at clinics designed solely to work on the piaffe/passage where the clinician rarely knows the horse and rider, and the rider expects results by the end of the clinic.

Some of the videos that condemned Cesar Parra were this type of “training.” There were videos of him from years and years ago, and just this year was there action on it.

So imagine you’re a sponsor (as it sounds like this person was), who has been told “that’s just the way people train piaffe.” And then four years later, you watch videos of Cesar Parra doing the same thing and see people upset about it. Wouldn’t that give you reason to think “hey maybe that wasn’t okay and people would care to know”?

[Old_Mac_Donald]

@anonevent

Per The Telegraph: “Charlotte Dujardin, Britain’s three-time Olympic champion, has been forced to pull out of Paris 2024 over a video showing her hitting a horse repeatedly on the legs during a slow-motion trot, Telegraph Sport understands…”

I wonder if it was with a bamboo pole. It’s a thing I saw Jose Mendez do (Manolo’s brother). I didn’t like it at the time, but I have my own bamboo pole now and it doesn’t hurt! Just makes a noise and gives them a sensation.

Hilda Gurney on Piaffe and Passage

(My pole is for shooing horses away from feed buckets)

[Dressurfrau]

I believe the partnership between CDJ and Mt St John ended at the end of 2021. Not sure of the particulars.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

There was talk that Freestyle’s owner didn’t like that Freestyle was passed over in Tokyo for Gio, who was conveniently for sale.

[Omnia]

@Old_Mac_Donald

There was talk that Freestyle’s owner didn’t like that Freestyle was passed over in Tokyo for Gio, who was conveniently for sale.

Yes, that was the impression I got at the time as well. From a 2023 Eurodressage article: “ Dujardin announced that Gio would be her pick for the 2021 Olympic Games and a day after the British team announcement, Blundell provided the information that Freestyle did not "maintain sufficient fitness to cope with the long travel and extreme climate required to perform to her best.”

The article continues: …Blundell seemingly ended her collaboration with Dujardin, who has been directing her attention more to riding and training horses for client Annabella Pidgley alongside other clients.”

Considering Gio, who was partially owned by Charlotte, was sold to Annabella Pidgley after the Olympics, there is a clear conflict of interest.

[Jealoushe]

Charlotte Dujardin 'beat horse with whip' in video that forced Olympics exit

[Jealoushe]

Charlotte Dujardin out of Olympics for ‘whipping horse like circus elephant’