Evi and Tanya Strasser provisionally suspended by Canada due to allegations of "misconduct" in alleged horse abuse

[barnesthenoble]

I am as ready as anyone to castigate abusers, but I agree with other posters that those photos, at least, aren’t convincing to me. Based only on what is shown in them, it looks more to me like a horse that had an allergic reaction, or perhaps had a run in with hornets, and/or maybe got banged up in a stall/turnout/trailer and is possibly sweaty due to sedation. They’re certainly not flattering pictures, but without context it’s impossible to tell whether these are the results of abusive riding or from an actual medical incident. Perhaps there are more pictures than what are shared in the video. I don’t know anything about the Strassers, so have no particular context or opinion regarding their training or riding.

Either way, I hope enough additional evidence comes out to either result in punishment, or establish that there wasn’t abuse involved.

[axl]

[Lunabear1988]

Is the video from Dressage Hub?
I have to agree, it’s hard to tell much from the video posted

[hoopoe]

@Lunabear1988

Is the video from Dressage Hub?

That was my thought as well.

[Annie_Burton]

@Amberley

That information is not in the video posted above.

The video is just a news flash - flawed - not an analysis or even journalism. The horse’s name is Romeo Tyme, the owner’s initials are V.W., and there is an investigation.

In other news, there was a World Cup (1990s) rider convicted and suspended for beating her own and her clients’ horses (2000s) who kept on beating them and who, one day, was found dead in the arena. Kicked in the head by a mare she had tortured. Dozens of people had known it for decades. Vets had even reported it, she had even been convicted and fined, and… in the end… a desperate horse took care of it.

Most horses endure too much, for too long.

[Happyhack]

I think this case will need additional witness statements to have any chance of succeeding. Not for the first time we have imagery of injuries resulting from alleged abuse but not of the actual incident that caused it and nothing to link the Strassers directly to it. Social media platforms who share these images are exposing themselves to great risk because if the Strassers are cleared, they will no doubt go after as many others as possible for defamation. Note that none of the traditional news outlets - whose journalists will have had legal training - have published the images, even though many of them were sent them a while ago. Reiten St Georg has linked to Dressage Hub, rather than publish the photos themselves, probably only after taking advice about their liability.

[Bogey2]

Is the owner of the horse suing?

[Night_Flight]

I’ve seen statements of support for the Strassers from who I believe to be the current owner of the horse (and/or family members), though I have no idea who the owner actually was at the time of the alleged abuse.

[Bogey2]

Thank you, I am really hoping to get the WHOLE story but it seems that some people would rather post the salacious and not add the facts.

[joiedevie99]

We don’t have enough to go off of here to make heads or tails of the situation. I suspect Equine Canada has something more concrete, maybe a witness statement, or they would not have issued a provisional suspension.

[Annie_Burton]

Maybe they are not adding facts and specifics since those facts are under investigation as they should be. Taking over the Instagram account of Cesar Parra was a brilliant way of doing it when the complaints had been ignored for too long. Each case is different.

[Bogey2]

I am talking about people like Jeloushe, she posted the video stuff but did not anything to the conversation. I would not be one to spread [it] around until I had some facts.

[Pehsness]

Is Dressage Hub the whistle blower here?

I have somehow made her part of my tik tok feed and it’s awful. I need to scrub my algorithm.

Very much hoping this is all proven false.

[Cowgirl]

I don’t think so. I think the whistleblower sent her some photos and videos when they couldn’t get satisfaction the first time they complained. It is completely UNKNOWN whether these are the photos and videos that are under review, so no one should assume that these are the videos and photos.

The one thing about social media, love it or hate it, it at least will get a response. Having reported issues to USEF and USDF before and had no response as to whether the matter was handled, I can understand the frustration.

[Knights_Mom]

@Sticky_Situation

What was the nature of the photos that prompted the suspension but were seemingly wiped from the internet years ago at her lawyer’s request? It sounds like it’s some sort of alleged horse abuse, but what did they actually show? I would think it would have to be pretty extreme, not just an isolated ugly moment, to prompt a suspension based on still photos.

I found in the past a few riders who had the internet wiped of bad photos. I haven’t looked again for a few years now.

[Knights_Mom]

@Donella

They are VERY extreme. Horse covered in bleeding wounds all over body, ventral edema, eyes all swollen shut from whip abuse. That’s what I’ve seen. And I haven’t been able to unsee it.

If true, they need to be gone from horses.

[java]

What is a “stretchie”?

[DownYonder]

@java

What is a “stretchie”?

Stretchies is the politically correct name for training shackles. They are also sometimes called shackle cuffs. My understanding is that they are commonly used in the gaited horse world to enhance front end action by using resistance from the surgical tubing to build muscle memory. They are apparently de rigueur in the training of Dutch Harness Horses and made their way some years back from that discipline into Dutch dressage training barns. Rumor has it that Totilas was trained in them, and that they have also been used in German and Danish dressage training barns to help create exaggerated front end movement. This video shows them in action.

[Knights_Mom]

This is my understanding as well.

[Djones]

Stretchies are an ASB thing, not a gaited thing. All about creating a big front end.