Olympics equestrian scandal takes twist as video emerges of Charlotte Dujardin whipping horse

Disturbing video footage has emerged of the Olympics horse whipping incident that saw British equestrian champion Charlotte Dujardin sensationally withdraw from the Paris Olympic Games. Dujardin is Britain's joint-most decorated female Olympian of all time but has been left disgraced after footage was leaked showing her whipping a horse's legs 24 times in a private coaching session that has sparked widespread outrage.

The video, which was aired on the Good Morning Britain news program on Wednesday, shows Dujardin walking beside the horse, which is carrying another rider, and whipping it along. Dujardin was provisionally suspended after equestrian's governing body launched an investigation into her conduct, with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) revealing they were looking into a video where she had engaged in "conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare".

Djuardin said in a video statement announcing her Olympic withdrawal that the footage showed her making an error of judgement that was out of character. She added that the footage was from several years ago and did not reflect how she trained her horses or coached her pupils. The FEI received the video from a lawyer on Monday but the complainant was undisclosed.

The equestrian rider now finds her career in tatters after being suspended for six months and missing out on the Olympics. Dujardin was widely expected to be honoured with a damehood after the Paris Games but the scandal looks set to scupper any such development. UK Sport said in a statement that it was “disturbed by the serious concerns that have been raised in the past 24 hours regarding horse welfare and Charlotte Dujardin. We expect all staff and athletes in Olympic and ­Paralympic sport to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour, ­ethics and integrity.”

Animal rights organisation PETA has also renewed its call for equestrian events to be banned from the Olympics in the wake of the controversy. "The message to the International Olympic Committee should be clear by now: Remove equestrian events from the Olympic Games," PETA said in a statement. "Yet again, an Olympic rider has been caught on video abusing a horse to force the animal to behave in an entirely unnatural way, simply for her own glory. Horses don't volunteer - they can only submit to violence and coercion. It's time for the Olympics to move into the modern era."

Dujardin won three golds, a silver and two bronze medals at the London, Rio and Tokyo Games in individual and team dressage. She is Britain's joint-most decorated female Olympian alongside cyclist Laura Kenny and was widely expected to leave Paris with a seventh Olympic Games medal from the dressage event in Paris.

Timing of leaked footage sparks Team GB sabotage claims

However, the timing of the leaked footage has fuelled sabotage concerns around Team GB, seeing as the video was filmed several years ago and only just released on the eve of the Paris Games. Lawyer Stephan Wensing, who represented the whistleblower that sent the video to UK media outlets this week, said his client had been warned against speaking out against Dujardin before deciding to push ahead with the complaint.

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But a Dutch equine lawyer who appears to be a business rival of the whistleblower’s representative, questioned the two-year delay in releasing the video and suggested that the motive was more around sabotaging Team GB than standing up for animal rights. “This statement makes it clear what motivated the anonymous client to file a complaint,” Dutch lawyer Luc Schelstraete wrote.

“When the complaining client finds animal welfare so important, it is incomprehensible why they wait so long to file complaints. Moreover, they are also required to promptly report alleged cases of Horse Abuse... This obligation to file a protest ‘without delay’ is precisely aimed at preventing animal suffering.

"Failure by the complaining client to comply with this reporting obligation in a timely manner may result in the alleged complaint of horse abuse against Charlotte Dujardin being declared inadmissible or the sanctions to be imposed remaining limited. Both the timing of the filing of the complaint and the media interviews explaining that a complaint about horse abuse was filed with the aim of depriving Charlotte Dujardin of medals at the upcoming Olympic Games are damaging to the rider."

with agencies