I was 19 when I saw a BNT really go after their horse (whip them excessively) and also saw their groom (a strong man) tighten their horse’s noseband with full force. I mean, FULL force. I would have been terrified to mention anything.
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Would be crazy if equestrian sport in the Olympics came to an end because of CDJ! Hard to imagine but totally possible.
Sounds like she whipped the horse with a lunge whip at the canter to get more hind end engagement. If true it’s truly disappointing that her training methods have not been what she has claimed.
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If you have had contact with “circus” trainers, you should know that their approach is to connect with the animal…especially those trainers who do liberty work. I would say that “classical training” is more along the lines of “tricks” than the circus approach that seeks to establish a relationship with the horse.
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A canter circle could easily do this, thus the “circus” look the man referred to.
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Re timing: Dutch lawyer says it was 2 1/2 years ago, C.D. herself says in her press release that it was 4. 
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I was 19 when a Grand Prix trainer told me to ride a horse in a double bridle and draw reins. I did it and figured I would just ride them as quietly and carefully as I could, feeling awful about it. I watched this same GP rider absolutely whale on her own horse when correcting them on the ground. (And smacked them a few extra times for good measure after the horse had frozen after the initial correction.)
I sure as hell wasn’t brave enough to stand up to them. I left my working student position shortly after and went home.
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Nope.
Riders need to take full responsibility for what happens with their horse while their ass is in the saddle.
Even when the abuse is happening out of the owner’s sight but still funded by their check book, but especially if it is happening WHILE THEIR ASS IS IN THE SADDLE.
COME ON!!
Preserving a get out of jail free card because “the trainer made me do it and I was starstruck” is completely unacceptable.
If you can’t advocate for your horse you dont deserve to participate in this sport.
Period.
If every single owner and rider of a horse for which a trainer got suspended ALSO got suspended, the checkbooks would snap shut real fast.
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I find this more credible as it is an equestrian publication, and would know about gaits. But did this publication see the tape or are they reporting ‘23 lashes’. Could you crack a lunge whip 23 times in less than a minute?
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You are ignoring reality. Let’s say this is a 19 year old rider (remember being 19 years old?) whose parents bought a fancy horse whose previous rider, who is a beloved Olympian, training them. You expect them to call out certain behaviors? Come on. Yes, ideally, the rider would stop and say this is wrong. But there’s a submission or recognition that “I know more than you” expected from the rider from certain trainers.
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Look at this thread, people are hesitant to speak against Charlotte or they are awaiting judgement until visual evidence. She’s got a fan club. Imagine being the one to dissolve the trust/idolization (by bringing it out into the open).
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To sit there and expect Charlotte to get suspended and face the wrath of the world and the now 23 year old to still be able to compete with an unblemished record and everybody understaaaaanding for alleged abuse that happened WHILE THEY WERE RIDING is the epitome of hypocrisy.
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I’ve seen a lunge whip used by George Morris during jump lessons. He didn’t continually whack a horse and if a horse had enough impulsion he didn’t use it at all. Having a whip flick your horses back legs got it forward fast. AND he wouldn’t have even gotten the whip out if the riders had put their horses on the bit with impulsion. (I’m not advocating for GM, he’s a pig).
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I mean, if it’s something the rider is feeling iffy about but not sure if it’s truly abuse or harmful to the horse, I could see her keeping her mouth shut in the moment and then later looking back and saying, “yeah, I don’t like how that played out.” But to sit on it for 4 years, then send video to the FEI two weeks before the Olympics saying, “look I have video proof that Big Name Trainer is a horse abuser!!!” … that’s a little harder to understand and seems to be motivated by more than concern for horse welfare.
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I was well into my 40s when an ex-Olympian trainer thoroughly humiliated me and my VERY lovely horse in a clinic. I hyperventilated till the end of the lesson, rushed out the door, and then wept uncontrollably in the barn aisle. And I assure you, I am HARDLY a shrinking violet!
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And wasn’t it said in the article that the riders mother was there watching?
It is called “due process.” NOT a fan club. People are waiting to see the evidence rather than to have a trial by the kangaroo court of social media
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There is a rumor floating around in my neck of the woods that it may have been Susan W. who released the video. If it’s true, does that not put things into some kind of perspective?
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That sounds completely different from the quote from the seemingly knowledgeable attorney that was in the article from The Guardian.
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not if you don’t know who Susan W is. (I don’t follow Dressage that closely.)
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Things can play out in many ways. I personally would like to see the video to make my own judgement. But to criticize why someone waited to disclose, well I would say, let’s see the evidence. I’m not particularly interested in why one waited. There are many reasons why, and if it’s a true case of abuse, it’s puts the spotlight on the one bringing the abuse public, rather than the one inflicted abuse.
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