Olympic golden girl Charlotte Dujardin was dumped by her sponsors yesterday and will miss out on a damehood after whipping a horse 24 times ‘like a circus elephant’.
There were growing questions over who leaked the video of her doing so – as her Dutch rivals last night insisted there were no ‘dirty tricks’ from them.
The 39-year-old triple gold medallist pulled out of the Olympics, declaring she was ‘deeply ashamed’, just days before she was anticipated to make history at Paris 2024 as Britain’s most decorated female Olympian.
The video of the dressage star allegedly lashing a horse at stables in Gloucestershire was made public by a Dutch lawyer on behalf of an anonymous client, who filmed it several years ago but has chosen to release it only now.
Madeline Hall, former dressage correspondent at Horse & Hound magazine, said: ‘The timing of this video days before the Olympics smells of sabotage. To me it is suspect.’
Footage showed Charlotte Dujardin seemingly hitting a horse repeatedly with a whip across the legs
Charlotte Dujardin with her Tokyo 2020 Olympic winning horse Gio (left) and former Olympic gold medal winner Valegro (right) in 2021. She has since been suspended following a horse whipping scandal
Dutch lawyer Stephan Wensing refused to divulge his client’s identity. It is unknown if she is also from the Netherlands, which has been a strong rival of Team GB in equestrian events.
Ms Dujardin narrowly defeated TeamNL at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and they were due to clash again next Tuesday at the Palace of Versailles.
Last night, a TeamNL spokesman said they ‘regret the expulsion of our fellow athlete’ but ‘also condemn the training method used by Dujardin in the video’, adding: ‘This has no place in our equestrian sports where the welfare of the horse comes first.
‘We are aware the video was released by a Dutch lawyer but would like to emphasise that the origin and the release has got no relation whatsoever to the Dutch Olympic team. We only just saw the video after it was published.’
Ms Dujardin was shown the video by the sport’s governing body, who had been sent it by the female whistleblower. Mr Wensing said: ‘It’s not fun to ruin a career. [My client] is not celebrating; she doesn’t feel like a hero. But she told me this had to be done as she wants to save dressage.’
As well as being given a six-month provisional ban, Ms Dujardin was dumped by at least three of her sponsors – riding helmet brand Charles Owen, insurance company KBIS and Danish equestrian equipment company Equine LTS.
Dujardin has withdrawn from the Paris Games over a video showing her making an ‘error of judgement’
UK Sport has suspended her Lottery funding, and Brooke, the world’s largest horse welfare charity, axed her as its ambassador, saying: ‘Our whole ethos is around kindness and compassion to horses and to see the opposite of this from someone with such a high profile is beyond disappointing.’
Ms Dujardin would have been a shoo-in for a damehood if she had picked up a medal in Paris, which was all she needed to become Britain’s most successful female Olympian ever.
But Whitehall sources have disclosed that any such honour is now off the table. She also faces being stripped of the CBE she was awarded in 2017.
The honours committee will await the result of the probe by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) before deciding.
The video shows Ms Dujardin lashing a horse as it was trained in how to perform a ‘piaffe’, a form of slow trot. Mr Wensing likened it to a circus elephant being mistreated.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Ms Dujardin apologised to her sponsors, fans and Team GB.
Dujardin (pictured at the Olympic Games in 2012) was hoping to become Britain’s most decorated Olympian but was forced to pull out of the games yesterday
Footage resurfaced of Dujardin showing how to ‘correctly’ whip a horse has (pictured is a grab from the video)
Dujardin with her fiancé Dean Wyatt-Golding after winning the gold old medal at the Dressage in the 2016 Rio Olympics
She said: ‘A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session.
‘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 at that moment.’
Team GB yesterday revealed that Yorkshirewoman Becky Moody, riding her horse Jaegerbomb, will replace Ms Dujardin in the British dressage team at the Olympics.
