Good for her and Dean. I wish her a safe pregnancy and look forwards to Charlotte 2.0 returning to the stage in the future.
Iāve seen similar statements made when men were welcoming a baby in the family, though to be fair itās the woman who canāt see her feet or sleep on her stomach near the end so sheās slightly more impacted on the daily and thus reminded of whatās cooking
I applaud her for owning the whole thing, accepting the suspension and moving on.
Yes, she can ride and train at home, she just canāt participate in anything the FEI or British Equestrian is involved with.
Interesting take on the situation in horsemagazine:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2024/12/crime-and-punishment-the-fei-gets-it-wrong-again/
Iām confused by this author.
Back in 2016 I had the privilege of watching Charlotte Dujardin train two horses ā Valegro and Barolo ā for about two hours a day for five days in a row, at the Sunshine Tour show in Jerez. The training was exemplary, tactful, logical, wonderful to watch.
But in 2018, she should have been punished by āriding Freestyle aggressivelyā? Does the author like Charlotteās riding or not?
I take it as he had enjoyed her work in the past, so watching her and Freestyle at WEG was a disappointment.
I took it to mean that her riding/training style has changed over the years. The implication being that she has gotten more greedy and less focused on horse welfare.
I took it to mean that he recognizes that sheās riding for the judges - who turn a blind eye to bad riding and tense horses in favor of fancy gaits.
I also agree 100% with this statement:
āBack in the days when the FEI was run by horse people, not by bureaucrats who see their role as pandering to animal liberationists who really believe that the horse should never be asked to do anything it doesnāt want to do, Ms. Dujardin might have been given a quiet talking to, and be advised to pick the people she associates with more carefully.
The real problem is that we lack judges who can recognize negative tension or if they can, have the guts to punish it. It was great to see the Germans fast track half a dozen real Grand Prix dressage riders into their judging program, if something is not done soon, then the liberationists will have their way and equestrian sport, and with it horses, will disappearā¦ā
Meh.
Does this mean that you donāt think the problem is the judging?
For sure the judging is part of it.
I also believe CDJs statement to be insincere. I just donāt believe it. Iām sure she regrets getting caught. Iām sure she will ban cameras/phones from lessons. But to my mind, if horse beating isnāt in your heart, you donāt do it.
Sure we all can succumb to a jerk on the reins MAYBE but prolonged whipping? Iām hoping as you folks consider your own actions, you come to the conclusion that you, yourself, couldnāt do what she did.
I hope.
I, personally, would not have been videoed in this situation because it wouldnāt occur in the first place. Iāve put horses in unfair situations before because I didnāt know better or I didnāt have the tools to deal with the problem the way I would today, but nothing ever as bad as this.
AND if I were her, Iād be her.
You have a good point, KM. But I donāt think sheās insincere. Nothing else has surfaced about her: no more videos, photos, disgruntled (former) clients, nothing. I think sheās not that person and that she truly regrets her actions. And I will be brutally honest when I say that while I think her treatment of the horse in that video was awful and unprofessional, I also donāt think it should be the end of her career. A 1 year suspension is appropriate punishment, IMO.
An interesting, and somewhat disturbing article about CD, horse welfare, and the spinelessness of the FEI.
Big (huge) differences between the situations, but interesting comparison to Dujardin by the author here:
For those who have not seen the incident, he struck the colt in the neck at the walk, after the race was over and the colt had won, despite lugging out.
Iām sure that colt thought, āWell, Iāve certainly learned my lesson!ā /s
2 Y/O colt for godās sake. Lopez knows better. He needs anger management classes, and not just in regard to horses.
Nice that a prominent racehorse owner who had Lopez scheduled to ride one of his horses that day demanded that he be allowed to take Lopez off his horse or he would scratch his horse from the race. Stewards said OK. Sometimes big shots use their position for good.
Meanwhile, in Norway, it is zero. No whip use at all.
Johannessen, a British-Norwegian equine photographer [whose high speed photo technique exposed blue tongue as too common in dressage]ā¦was rejected on the grounds that the event had ālimited capacityā even though other journalists were still being waved in.
Iām with Norway and, until the Norwegians are proved wrong, anyone doing actual evidence-based research on this topic.
[Narrator: that would be no one because thereās no money in that kind of research.]