Harrowing footage of Team GB equestrian star Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse 24 lashes during a private coaching lesson has cost her her dame title, official sources have told The Guardian.
The 39-year-old is widely expected to take home the honor if she wins another dressage medal in Paris as expected. That would take her to seven medals, equaling Jason Kenny’s record for a British Olympian. However, Whitehall sources confirmed that any such honor is now off discussion.
Dujardin now finds her career in shambles after being kicked out of the Olympics and suspended for six months. To make matters worse, Sport England suspended lottery funding for her after footage emerged of her crashing a horse.
UK Sport said in a statement it was “disturbed by the serious concerns that have arisen over the past 24 hours regarding horse welfare and Charlotte Dujardin. We wish all staff and athletes across the Olympic and Paralympic movement Ability to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, ethics and integrity.
Dujardin was also sacked as an ambassador for horse welfare charity Brooke, which said it was left “feeling” by a video of her repeatedly hitting a horse while training a young rider at a private stable several years ago. Deeply disturbed.”
“Our whole ethos is one of kindness and compassion for horses, and to see such a high-profile person contradict that is really disappointing,” she said. “There is never any excuse for cruelty to animals.”
However, at this stage it seems unlikely that Dujardin will be stripped of his CBE. It is understood the honors committee will await the outcome of the FEI’s investigation before deciding whether to launch its own review.
However, one source pointed out that the threshold for depriving someone of such an honor is so high that even former postmaster Paula Vennells had her CBE returned to her rather than have it stripped from her.
The video also prompted animal rights group PETA to renew its call for all equestrian sports to be banned from the Olympics.
“The message to the IOC now should be clear: remove equestrian from the Olympics,” said Kathy Guillermo, PETA’s senior vice president in the United States.
“Once again, an Olympic rider has been filmed abusing a horse, forcing it to perform completely unnatural behavior just for his own glory.
“Horses don’t volunteer – they succumb to violence and coercion,” she added. “It’s time for the Olympics to enter the modern era.”
Modern pentathlon has decided to cancel the equestrian event at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles after a German coach was heavily criticized for beating a horse after it refused to jump over an obstacle in Tokyo.
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Dujardin admitted in a statement released on Tuesday that there was “no excuse” for her actions and that she was “deeply ashamed” of the error in judgment.
“What happened was completely out of character for me and does not reflect how I train my horses or mentor my students, but there is no excuse,” she added. “I’m deeply ashamed and should have set a better example.
She added: “I sincerely apologize for my actions and am devastated that I have let everyone down, including Team GB, fans and sponsors. “I will work closely with the FEI, British Equestrian Federation and British Equestrian Dressage fully cooperates and will not be commenting further until the process is complete.”
Stephan Wensing, a Dutch lawyer representing the 19-year-old who filed a formal complaint against Dujardin, said he was pleased the FEI had taken such a strong stance.
“Charlotte Dujardin is in the middle of the arena,” he said. “She told the students, ‘Your horse must lift its legs more when cantering.’ She took the whip and struck the horse more than twenty-four times in one minute. It was like a giant statue in a circus.”
Meanwhile, World Equestrian Welfare chief executive Roly Owers admitted the footage was “a huge wake-up call to people who don’t think it’s important”.
“Respect for the horse must be at the heart of every equestrian and every equestrian sport, and their behavior must reflect this respect at all times,” he added.
