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British eventer Tom McEwen insists the conduct of dressage star Charlotte Dujardin was not reflective of equestrian sports.
Dujardin withdrew from Paris on Tuesday and was banned for six months by equestrian’s governing body pending an investigation into a video from four years ago which showed her repeatedly hitting a student’s horse with a whip from the ground during a coaching session.
The video has initiated a wider debate about the future of equestrian sports at the Olympics, but after getting Team GB’s eventing squad off to a fine start in the dressage element, McEwen maintained horse welfare is always the priority.
He said: “I think it was a shock for all of us, but at the end of it we’re here to portray our sport in a positive light. I believe eventing is one of the greatest sports – we’re the triathlon of the horse world.
“I would be more than happy to let anyone come into our yard and see how well those horses are looked after. I think our sport is amazing and these horses are treated like kings and queens.
I would be more than happy to let anyone come into our yard and see how well those horses are looked after. I think our sport is amazing and these horses are treated like kings and queens.— Tom McEwen
“I do believe that this week, all of us here can show the sport to be the amazing sport that it is.”
McEwen described the video as “deeply sad” for equestrian sport, but thinks the disciplinary process should now be allowed to come to fruition.
“We are 110 per cent behind horse welfare. I definitely don’t condone at all Charlotte’s behaviour, but she has put her hands up to it, owned it and it’s not for me to say, it’s for the course, the process and the people to decide what punishment she should be getting for her actions.
“She is a human being at the end of it, so we have to respect her rights as well.
“It was a shock, but we have come here to do our job as an eventing team, so we have our focus and with eventing, you don’t really get too much time on your hands.
“We’ve seen the news, we’ve read it, it’s deeply sad for our sport, but at the same time I don’t believe our sport is like that and we move on.”
Germany’s reigning Olympic champion Julia Krajewski underlined the partnership element of equestrian sports and the need to prioritise the horse at all times.
She said: “I think as a professional in equestrian sport it needs a very strong, good, character, you have to work every day, give everything but you have to give absolutely no care for the medal if you feel it’s too much for the horse.
“It’s different to other sports where you can push yourself to the limit, but we have to say we push ourselves but never the horse.”
When asked how the sport could win back fans, she said: “Do it in a good way, show it can be done in a good way and be strict if it’s not done in a good way.”
