Charlotte Dujardin’s fiancé has broken his silence after the six-time equestrian medallist was forced to pull out of the Olympics on Tuesday when footage emerged of her whipping a horse “like an elephant in a circus”.
Team GB’s queen of dressage was sensationally banned from the sport just days before the Paris Olympics after being accused of whipping the animal’s legs more than 24 times.
Dujardin, a six-time medallist, had hoped to become Britain’s most decorated Olympian (currently tied with cyclist Laura Kenny) but was forced to withdraw from the Games on Tuesday as a former competitor said her career was “in tatters”.
On Monday, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) received a video of Dujardin allegedly abusing the horse at a training centre in the UK. Dujardin, 39, has been suspended pending an investigation.
Now the Olympian’s fiancé has spoken out for the first time since the horrific clip aired on Good Morning Britain earlier today, saying the allegations “came out of the blue”.
Charlotte Dujardin pictured with her fiancé Dean Wyatt-Golding after winning gold at Rio 2016. Wyatt-Golding has broken her silence following the six-time Olympic medallist’s ban.
Team GB’s Olympic dressage champion Dujardin has pulled out of the Paris Games over a video showing her making an “error in judgement”.
The horse can be seen apparently bucking in response to Dujardin’s lashings.
The footage shows her hitting the horse several times with the whip as she tries to teach him the ‘piaffe’.
Speaking outside the couple’s home, Dean Wyatt Golding said: ‘I can’t say anything beyond Charlotte’s statement.
“All we can do is wait and see what happens.”
Responding to questions about how the video could have been shared, Mr Golding added: “No, we have no idea.
“For now, Charlotte is obviously cooperating with the equestrian authorities.”
The couple have a one-year-old daughter, Isabella, who was due to travel to Paris to watch her mother compete. Dujardin told the Mail earlier this week: “People say having children is the end of your career, but we are showing that it is not.”
She returned to riding six weeks after having Isabella, saying it would be “very special to ride in front of her in Paris.”
The footage shows Dujardin walking alongside the horse, which was being ridden by a 19-year-old woman, while she whipped its legs.
Dutch lawyer Stephan Wensing, the lawyer for the whistleblower who shared the video, told GMB his client had sponsored a lesson for the teenager on the horse.
Dujardin with Wyatt-Golding after winning gold in dressage at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Dujardin (pictured at the 2012 Olympics) had hoped to become Britain’s most decorated Olympian but was forced to withdraw from the Games on Tuesday.
Mr Wensing said his client had seen this practice several times.
She said: ‘My client used to be a sponsor and was in the UK and sponsored a lesson for Charlotte to a student. She was a 19-year-old horse rider who had a lesson from Charlotte Dujardin in the UK.
‘Charlotte Dujardin was in the middle of the ring. She said to the student: “Your horse must lift its legs higher when galloping.”
‘She took the long whip and hit the horse more than 24 times in one minute and very hard, very rough, very rough.
“This is not an isolated incident. My client has visited Charlotte Dujardin’s stable several times and has seen this happen several times.”
Wensing had previously compared the treatment to that of “an elephant in a circus”. He said the incident took place in 2022, but Dujardin claims his “error of judgement” occurred four years ago.
The athlete is believed to have kicked the horse’s legs while trying to teach it ‘piaffe’, the slow-motion trotting technique associated with dressage.
Those who give instructions on piaffe usually do so while tapping the horse very gently, just enough to encourage him to lift his legs.
Charlotte Dujardin pictured with her Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games-winning horse Gio (left) and former Olympic gold medal winner Valegro (right) in 2021
Dujardin pictured during a British team training session for the Paris Olympics in Birmingham in June.
The alleged whistleblower had filmed the lesson but had been warned not to file an official complaint due to Dujardin’s previous excellent reputation.
“In the video, she takes the long whip and hits the horse more than 24 times; (this is) the biggest star in dressage,” Wensing said last night.
“It’s a black day for dressage and for Charlotte Dujardin. But in her statement, my client says that if dressage wants to survive, they must stop doing this to horses.”
“It makes no sense,” the lawyer added. “It has no purpose. It’s unbelievable. At the time, my client thought this must be normal. She’s an Olympic champion. Who am I to doubt?”
“My client asked around and was warned not to speak in the UK. But last year he saw others suspended in the UK and elsewhere.”
Former eventer and current ITV Racing presenter Alice Plunkett said Dujardin’s career was “shattered” by the release of the video.
“It’s not a video that makes anyone feel comfortable. It’s not appropriate and it’s not something I’ve ever seen in my years of working with horses,” he said.
‘It’s not a common practice. She knows it and I don’t understand how she got into this situation, because she is a person who has lived off horses because she handles them in a way that suits her.
‘Valegro (Dujardin’s horse) would not have acted the way he did towards her if he had treated her like that. In that video, she is training someone else’s horse. She has made the wrong decision on how to solve a problem. It is not acceptable.
‘We are coming to the Olympics with an extraordinary team and we want to celebrate the professionalism that has brought them there. The FEI does not support training methods like this.
The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has suspended Dujardin pending a full investigation into his conduct (pictured: statement)
The six-time Olympic medallist (pictured with her horse Gio) was among those in the running to be Team GB’s flag bearer at Friday’s Opening Ceremony.
The 39-year-old (pictured at the London 2012 Olympics) could have become the most decorated British Olympian in Paris.
“If someone trains horses in this way, the FEI will stop them. In the modern era, you can’t do that without problems. She hasn’t gotten away with it and you won’t get away with it. It’s categorically an equestrian sport, the horse is the most important thing.
“She will be hanged, drawn and quartered. This will be her final legacy. Her professional career is in tatters.”
In a shocking statement, the three-time gold medallist revealed she had made an “error of judgement” during a training session that is said to have put an animal’s welfare at risk.
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