5 months ago
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CHARLOTTE DUJARDIN ‘will be hung, drawn and quartered’ over the disturbing video of her whipping a horse, claims ITV presenter and former eventer Alice Plunkett.
The three-time Olympic gold medallist pulled out of the Paris Games in disgrace on Tuesday over a disturbing video of her whipping a horse at least 25 times.
PA
The Team GB Olympian is ‘deeply ashamed’ of a video showing her whipping a horseDujardin said she was “deeply ashamed” by her “error of judgement” in a coaching session “from four years ago”.
The video has now emerged after a whistleblower, who is a sponsor of the 19-year-old girl riding the horse in the footage, took action.
They had not reported the incident sooner because they felt intimidated by her prestige and had been warned by people in the dressage community to stay quiet.
However, they felt they had to act with the Olympics coming up, their lawyer Stephan Wensing told Sky News.
The dressage rider is Team GB’s most decorated female athlete tied, with Laura Kenny on six medals, including three golds, but will now miss this summer’s Games.
She has been issued with a provisional six-month ban by the sport’s governing body, the FEI, who have launched a probe into the incident.
The scandal has left Dujardin’s “career in tatters” according to Plunkett, who is now an ITV Racing host and whose husband William Fox-Pitt is a former Olympic eventer and team-mate of Dujardin.
Plunkett told Good Morning Britain: “It’s not a video that makes anyone feel comfortable. It is not appropriate and it is not something that I have ever seen in terms of the years that I have been working with horses.
Alice Plunkett believes the video will be Dujardin’s ‘defining legacy’Rex
Reuters“It’s not standard practice. She knows that and I just don’t understand how she got into that situation because she is somebody who has made her life from horses because she manages them in a way that they work for her.
“Valegro [Dujardin’s horse] would not have performed in the way he did for her if he was treating her like that. In that video she is training someone else’s horse. She has made the wrong decision in how to solve a problem. It is not acceptable.
Charlotte Dujardin's statement
“A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgement during a coaching session.
“Understandably, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) is investigating.
“And I have made the decision to withdraw from all competition – including the Paris Olympics – while this process takes place.
“What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse.
“I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment.
“I am sincerely sorry for my actions and devastated that I have let everyone down, including Team GB, fans and sponsors.
“I will cooperate fully with the FEI, British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage during their investigations, and will not be commenting further until the process is complete.”
“We are heading into the Olympics with an extraordinary team and we want to celebrate the professionalism that got them there. The FEI do not stand for training methods like this.
“If anyone trains horses like this they would be pulled by the FEI. You cannot get away with that in the modern age. She has not got away with it. You will not get away with it. It is categorically a horse sport, the horse is front and centre.
“She will be hung, drawn and quartered. This will be her defining legacy. Her professional career is in tatters.”
Dujardin’s Olympics withdrawal came just three days before the opening ceremony on the Seine.
She had not travelled to France and will be replaced by reserve rider Becky Moody on her horse Jägerbomb.
The dressage team and individual events are set to start on Tuesday July 30.
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