Great Britain’s dressage medal hope Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The three-time Olympic champion had spread videoin which he violently whips his horse in a training situation.
Dujardin apologized for what happenedsaid he takes responsibility for what happened and is cooperating with the Federation of Equestrians International (FEI) as the federation investigates the incident.
The FEI also banned Dujardin from competition pending an investigation. Five years ago, Dujardin’s performance in the team competition at the European Championships was abandoned when his horse’s side bled a year.
Urheilu’s equestrian commentator Marko Björs was shocked by the news, even though he hasn’t seen the video. He knows Dujardin’s coach, business partner and mentor well by Carl Hesterbut naturally also knows Dujardin and his achievements.
Björs, who himself competed for several years and now works as a riding trainer, has talked about the incident with his colleagues, and he really misses what happened.
– Such a thing is really rare among professionals. Usually, knowledge, skill and situational awareness overcome violence. They say that when the skills end, the use of force begins, Björs said.
Animal trainer Tuire Kaimio watched the video at the request of Urheilu. He thought it was sad to watch, and it wasn’t just Dujardin’s use of the whip that disturbed the video.
Although the rider is blurred in the video, Kaimio drew attention to how tightly the rider held the reins. Using too much force can cause damage to the horse’s mouth. In addition, the rider had spurs at his disposal.
– The animal was in a way between three fires, Kaimio described.
Kaimio reminds us that the horse differs as an animal species from, for example, a human or a pig. It does not scream or necessarily make any sound when it is in pain or in distress. The rider or trainer should therefore be able to see from the horse’s gestures if he is causing pain to the horse.
– I think that many subconsciously use whether a sound is heard or not in their evaluation. Someone wise once said that if horses squealed like pigs, the mane would sometimes be full of noise, Kaimio said.
The animal does not always understand
According to Björs, horses that are not of sufficient quality will not get to the top of the world. He compares them to formula cars, which must have more power, strength, desire and temperament than others. Really skilled trainers are also needed to train them.
– It is primarily a matter of pack leadership and trust. Many of the top horses are really personable, which require not only skilled trainers but also time, Björs reminded.
The use of a bridle has been a traditional horse training method, just like the use of spurs and a bit. According to Kaimio, instead of hitting, the bit has usually been used more lightly, i.e. by stroking or “knocking” the horse with the bit until the horse does something in the right direction, in which case the knocking can be stopped.
Kaimio himself teaches horses with positive reinforcement, i.e. food rewards, and does not use force in training. According to him, gradually modifying the movements requires a person to have the skill to see when the horse makes even a small shift in the right direction, and the patience to reward the animal enough times for that little bit. The level of difficulty is increased only when the horse understands what it is about, and within the limits allowed by physical development.
– There is a big difference in whether the horse is allowed to understand a gradually more difficult task in peace, or whether a person with great pressure causes the horse to do something. In the latter, the horse acts to avoid something unpleasant, and if the horse later disobeys, people often have no choice but to increase the pressure again, Kaimio said.
– Sometimes it just happens that the animal just doesn’t understand or it can’t do something. If the training method is such that disobedience is intensified by pressure and violence is used, then it is inevitably an unfair situation.
Björs also reminds us that horses can be trained without whips, spurs or bridles. These are partly just an old relic.
– For example, stirrups and spurs have been part of the outfit. Rarely are they effective or necessary to make the horse do something better. The whole time has been going in a better direction and even at the Olympics you can compete without spurs if you want, Björs said.
Publicity promoted intervention
Abuses and excesses in horse training and riding have been tackled more visibly in the last ten years. According to Marko Björs, one of the things that led to this was the use of the so-called rollkur training method. In this exercise, the horse’s neck is bent for extremely long periods of time, and it has also been used as punishment.
With the increase in social media, abuses have also become more visible and it has been possible to intervene. Both Finland and the International Equestrian Federation have revised their rules and drawn up detailed operating instructions due to such cases. According to Björs and Tuire Kaimio, it has been a good thing.
– If the general public and the media didn’t talk about such cases, nothing would necessarily change, Kaimio said.
In Kaimio’s opinion, nothing justifies the fact that a person should cause pain to a horse. The horse has served man for centuries, but it has not voluntarily joined the people.
– Does a horse need to serve a human if it really doesn’t want to? Kaimio asked, but assured that he is not fundamentally against horse racing, but against all mistreatment of animals.
– It’s always about the individual animal: how the animal is treated and in what kind of environment it does well. Has the animal been trained so that it really works voluntarily? Not all trainers are suitable for it, and not all animals are suitable for all tasks.
Björs is sorry that often nasty things like Dujardin’s case mark the whole sport. In his opinion, every person who mistreats animals is wrong and must be punished, but not everyone mistreats animals in training situations.
– As long as we follow the rules and on the animal’s terms, when we play sports with animals and take all the animal’s basic needs and well-being into account, then in my opinion horse riding is one of the finest sports, Björs said.
In his opinion, it is important that riding is included in the program of the Olympic Games.
– In any case, there would be competition in horse riding. The Olympics are an important showcase for athletes, the sport and its visibility.
After the interviews, there was news about a new scandal in the Olympic riding. Show jumper representing Austria Max Kühner accused of violating Germany’s animal welfare law and will stand trial after the Paris Olympics.