Equestrian federation spells out horse welfare reforms in wake of horse-whipping video

VERSAILLES, France — The organization that oversees equestrian competition at the Olympics spelled out a series of reforms for horse welfare on the eve of the Paris Games and in the wake of an abuse case involving one of the sport's best riders.

Executives from the Federation for Equestrian Sports, or FEI, held a roundtable discussion Thursday in which they outlined a comprehensive plan already in place to improve horse safety. It took on greater focus after three-time Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin withdrew this week after video emerged showing her repeatedly whipping a horse.

“It’s an additional, I would say, justification, for me that we are doing the right thing by creating this plan,” FEI president Ingmar De Vos said. “I think it clearly illustrates that this plan that we have now created and the philosophy of ‘Be a Guardian’ is really what we need.”

The federation launched its “Be a Guardian” initiative last week, calling on members of the equestrian riding and training community to embrace their roles caring for horses. It also came with the development of the Equine Welfare Strategy Action plan, highlighting six priority areas and 30 recommendations on improvements.

Asked why now and why they had not been introduced before, FEI secretary general Sabrina Ibáñez said this provides a more holistic approach about taking care of horses.

“We didn’t invent the rules now that are applied today,” Ibáñez said. “These have been ongoing throughout the years. And what we’re doing now is strengthen them even more so. There’s always room for improvement, and there’s a lot to be improved, of course.”

De Vos said he was saddened and surprised by the video, which is part of an official complaint filed against Dujardin and was published by multiple media outlets Wednesday. Dujardin said Tuesday in a statement that the video is from four years ago, and it “shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session, adding it she was deeply ashamed and calling the actions “completely out of character.”

“One thing that’s been much discussed in the last few days is training methods, obviously, and one of the action points we have is on ethical training methods, and we will be looking to how horses are trained, what form they are trained, what they are ridden in and what is ethical,” De Vos said. “Where do we draw the lines with what we can do and cannot do with horses? That’s one of the key items.”

One of the immediate changes is the addition of an equine welfare coordinator on site at the Olympics for the first time. The FEI's veterinary director, Goran Akerstrom, said the other areas of focus include recognizing physical and emotional stress and what horses do for the other 23 hours a day they are not training or competing.

“We have been almost completely focusing on the competition, but the horse lives mostly outside competition,” Akerstrom said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a statement earlier this week said Dujardin's case is a message to the International Olympic Committee to remove equestrian events entirely.

Dujardin has been provisionally suspended from all events under FEI jurisdiction, pending results of the investigation. The FEI said Dujardin confirmed she is the person shown in the video and that she requested her own provisional suspension.