The initial details were murky (trot vs. canter, etc). Maybe some of it is/was a translation problem. I don’t know.
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The RIDER was 16, the person filming sponsored the ride and, I assume, is an adult. It also sounds like the rider’s mother was there.
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Assumptions that the ride sponsor was an adult and assumptions that the rider’s mother was present do not negate the quoted, published statements that the whistleblower was 16, and a student of Dujardin, at the time that she recorded the video. More than one person in an arena can be 16.
We can assume and speculate all we want but we won’t ever fully know why they laughed.
Personally, I can have this trauma response laugh thing at times. It’s weird but uncontrollable. It only happens when I’m like extremely upset or scared. If people saw it they might think I’m nuts or psychopath. Which is very opposite of how I actual am. It’s just a weird trauma thing for me I think.
Editing to add, I of course hope they didn’t find it funny. But I have no idea.
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I did not say that any American should pipe up. What I said was that, watching similar in the US, I don’t think your average on-looker horse person here would have intervened. That says something about our horse culture here, nothing else.
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Cross-posting from the other thread for info:
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Honestly, given that she’s absolutely not denied or obfuscated about this incident in any meaningful way and so far has accepted her suspension quietly, I think reasonable people can agree that it was simply a memory error that has exactly zero PR implications.
I’m pretty sure it is only 2 1/2 years, since the attorney pointed out that 4 years ago would have been in the middle of a covid shutdown in Europe.
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If the whistleblower had been taught abusive techniques by her coach, it wouldn’t exactly be surprising that she applied them. Her lawyer said that she though those methods were the correct way at the time, but she has since learned that they’re cruel. She feared, but expected, retaliation and victim blaming. And, you’re right. Two wrongs wouldn’t make a right. Besides, fair or unfair, the public holds Olympians to higher standards.
I’m not sure how someone would prove who took the video and that they’re featured in other footage anyway. I hope that anyone trying to out the whistleblower will be sure that they’re correct before sending a victim blaming mob after someone.
Yes, but the Facebook thread references to a The Horse Magazine item which predates the alleged CDJ abuse incident by at least 5 years and possibly 7.5 years. So I would suggest that any abusive techniques weren’t learnt from CDJ.
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Can you clarify? I do not connect with any social media so I’m not sure what you are referencing?
This is a direct link to the FB page:
Basically the posts mention horses / people ruined, “the gift that keeps giving”, “charlatan”.
The Horse Magazine has a FB post from 2016 which mentions a right to reply:
but I can’t find the original article to which a reply was warranted - possibly because of EU data protection laws. Anyone care to google “the horse magazine” “alicia fielmich” “karen gordon” and see what comes up?
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Yeah, that does seem very plausible. Considering the fact that I have the same issue with nervous laughter, I definitely shouldn’t have been so quick to judge.
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It also makes clear that the rider did not file the complaint…
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The whip noise sounds more like cracking (air or ground) versus lashing the horse. The horse stays on a circle in a fairly steady pace.
Mine would be galloping to timbuktu if actually hit.
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…Sorry, did we watch the same video? Charlotte clearly made contact with the horse several times and the horse performed terribly as a result.
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I saw the contacts. The horse scooted in response to them.There was also pointing and cracking of the whip. Have you had a trainer shake a lunge whip at a horse to move them out?
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Please stop making excuses for this abuse, the horse was clearly whipped dozens of times, This woman should be banned for life, her explanation as “an error in judgement” is ridiculous. She’s trying to downplay what seems to be her training methods. I’m sure this isn’t the first time she abused a horse,
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I’m afraid I still don’t understand the point you are trying to make here. Saying that the horse “scooted” in response to the contact is a bit generous. The horse can be seen kicking out multiple times. Yes, there were a few times when the whip didn’t hit the horse, but for the most part, the whip hit the horse and Charlotte can even be seen swinging two-handed. Her conduct in the video is completely pointless and utterly fruitless.
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At the end of the video the laughing seems to stop and someone from off camera says something to the effect of “when you watch this back try not to let him run through your outside aids”. To me this says complicit with CDJ’s behavior. She (a) thinks the rider should watch the video for the purposes of improvement in their riding, (b) fails to recognize the horse is falling out because there’s a crazy lady with a whip on the inside
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