Tortured animal with whip: Scandal rider Charlotte Dujardin is allowed to ride a horse again
British dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin was banned from the 2024 Olympics for blatant animal cruelty. Now she could return.
The one-year ban on controversial rider Charlotte Dujardin (40) officially expires on Wednesday (July 23). The British rider received the ban after disturbing videos were made public showing the three-time Olympic dressage champion mistreating her horse with whipping.
So, will Charlotte Dujardin now venture back into public after the ban? The British Equestrian Federation is claiming to be clueless. "We don't know," a spokeswoman for the British Equestrian Federation said when asked.
"We have no contact with her," the spokeswoman said. Since the scandal that rocked the equestrian world shortly before the 2024 Olympic Games, Dujardin, who was previously very active on Instagram, has disappeared.
Shaky footage brought the animal cruelty to public attention. The video, now about five years old, showed Dujardin hitting a horse more than 24 times with a long whip during a training session. A Dutch lawyer had made the incident public on behalf of an unknown client.
Dujardin herself admitted that she was the person in the disturbing video and that her behavior was inappropriate. In a statement about the one-year ban, which began on July 23, 2024, the rider said: "This was undoubtedly one of the darkest and most difficult times of my life."
Dujardin's discoverer, supporter, and trainer, Carl Hester, said: "The video was a huge shock to me." German dressage stars like Isabell Werth felt the same way, saying at the Olympic Games: "It makes me incredibly sad. It's so senseless and something I didn't expect at all or understand in any way."
Nevertheless, Werth now pleads for the British rider to be assessed impartially if she makes a comeback: "Why should an athlete be treated any differently than any other person who is returning to normal life after a serious mistake?"
"That's why we have a sanction system that everyone is subject to—and after that, it's fine," Werth said. "It's important that we reopen the door and not dwell on it for months. That was a dark day, but it would be truly unfair to reduce it to that."
Werth considers the punishment for her former competitor "fair and good." At the same time, Dujardin is "a superb rider, she has brought out many horses, and she will bring out the next ones as well," said the eight-time Olympic champion.
"She'll certainly return to competitive riding at some point," predicts Werth, who had no personal contact with Dujardin, but with her discoverer, Hester. The British rider will definitely not be competing at the European Championships in France at the end of August, that much is clear. Due to the suspension, she lacks the necessary qualifications. And probably also the horses.
Two horses were sold following the scandal. Imhotep, used by Dujardin at the 2023 European Championships, is now ridden by Austrian Diana Porsche. And the promising young rider Kismet moved to the equestrian center of four-time Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl last fall.
Dujardin may be betting on Alive and Kicking, said the spokeswoman for the British Riding Federation. The rider owns 45 percent of the mare. A possible appearance at the British Championships in September is possible. However, it's not at all certain that she'll make a comeback.
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