Cruelty is an old friend of the equestrian sports industry.

Recent examples of abuse and cruelty include: 

6 August 2024 (Paris Olympics) - in its dressage review, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has found pictures of horses with blue tongues caused by oxygen shortage during dressage competition, the organisation's chief vet told Reuters on Tuesday. "The concern on those pictures were the blue tongues, likely caused by high rein tension", FEI chief vet Goran Akerstrom said, adding that the double bridles which are mandatory in top-level dressage tournaments also played a role in cutting off oxygen from the the tongue, causing "pain or unnecessary discomfort." The FEI did not take any disciplinary measures as a result of the images and the findings will not affect the dressage results.

Marcus Orlob (30 July 2024 - Paris Olympics) - his horse, Jane, tried to refuse to enter the stadium, demonstrated by her backing, spinning and half-rearing. The US dressage rider was ultimately eliminated due to "blood on the inside of the horse’s right hind fetlock".

Emiliano Portale (27 July 2024 - Paris Olympics) - the Italian dressage rider has been eliminated from the Olympics after his horse was found to be bleeding from the mouth following the evening dressage qualifiers.

Carlos Parro (27 July 2024 - Paris Olympics) - the Brazilian dressage rider has been issued a warning by the FEI for potentially causing “unnecessary discomfort” to his horse Safira. One photo shows the animal being subjected to Rollkur. Rollkur involves drawing the horse’s neck round in a deep curve so its nose almost touches its chest. 

Charlotte Dujardin (23 July 2024) - a video was leaked showing the British dressage rider "whipping a horse 'like an elephant in a circus'" - she whipped the terrified horse 24 times in the short clip. 

Cesar Parra (January 2024) - international competition footage was leaked showing “abhorrent abusive training techniques” from the US dressage rider and trainer. Parra repeatedly whipped the horses with whips at short intervals during their exercises. The horses were also kicked and subjected to the incredibly cruel Rollkur. 

Andreas Helgstrand (November 2023) - a two-part documentary called "Operation X: The Secrets of the Horse Billionaire", shows the Danish dressage rider training horses in Rollkur and included interviews with Helgstrand staff about horses frequently being seen with whip and spur marks, or bleeding from the mouth. On a separate occasion in 2015, he had been reprimanded for "improper use of bit and bridle". In the pictures, a horse is being ridden with its mouth open, revealing a blue tongue (due to lack of blood supply) and there appears to be spur marks on the horse's side. 

Max Kühner (May 2023) - PETA recently accused Austria’s Max Kuhner of hitting a horse’s legs with a bar in order to make it jump higher in May 2023. This is a forbidden training method known as ‘barring’ in which a wooden or metal bar is placed over an obstacle so that it hits the horse’s legs and forces the animal to pull them higher when it jumps. Penal orders against Kuhner and a second person working as a trainer were issued in March 2024. He is challenging these proceedings but Kuhner has previously been accused of animal cruelty in 2008 where videos captured on a mobile phone allegedly showed him jumping a horse over a wire at a water obstacle.

Shannon Eckel (July 2021) *trigger warning if you decide to look up the story and see the images* - Cobain, an Irish Sport Horse gelding, was found "hanging dead" in a stall at Shannon Eckel's Hat Trick Sporthorses. After he refused to load into the horse trailer for a competition, according to the suit against Eckel, she tied Cobain in the stall "with his head and neck extended upwards into an unnatural, stretched-out, upright and vertical manner," and then left the gelding there "for several hours" while she was at a "horse competition." Cobain was "tied to the highest rail on the stall wall by a rope halter and a leadline which was permanently attached to the rope halter" and he didn't have access to food or water, according to the suit. At the time of updating this petition (18 May 2025), the litigation continues  

Annika Schleu / Kim Raisner (2020 Tokyo Olympics) - we all witnessed the German dressage rider forcibly coercing her randomly assigned horse, Saint Boy, to jump at the Olympics despite its obvious distress and refusal to do so. Annika was ordered to “really hit” the horse and her coach Kim Raisner, punched it. We watched in absolute shock and horror as this poor horse, baring its teeth and sweating profusely, was suffering. Public prosecutors in Potsdam have dropped an investigation into Annika Schleu and over the horse-abuse scandal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in return for "a charitable donation."

Patrik Kittel (2009) - an infamous “blue tongue video” shows the Swedish dressage rider riding his stallion hyper-flexed to the point the horse’s tongue is blue, and hanging out of his mouth. Just before the 2012 Olympics, a photo capturing Kittel using the same technique reignited the Rollkur debate in the horse community. 

After some international pressure, the FEI eventually banned Rollkur but as we can see from recent events - it is still very much an alive and well practice in the world of equestrian sports. 

In 2002, a report from the Daily Telegraph detailed “frequent incidents of violence” against dressage horses at competitions, including attacks that left horses with “torn mouths and bloodied flanks”. 

There are other various cruel techniques involved in the training of horses for equestrian sports. 

For example, Noseband tightening has caused a lot of changes in the behavior of the horses, temperature of the eye, and lastly, cardiac irregularities. Dressage requires you to use spurs (a type of metal tool attached to riding boots used to direct the horse) despite cruelty concerns. Shock collars and electric spurs have been known to be used to tame horses. "Wastage" - the term used for culling uncompetitive animals - is another horror these horses may suffer (see an extensive ABC investigation in 2019 on this). Tongue-tying is another one. A cursory glance on the Internet reveals countless incidences of suffering and vile tortuous practices.  

What can we do to help these animals? Well, it turns out, quite a lot. Think about what we have achieved when we act together. 

Circus goers used to enjoy watching animals perform amazing feats for their entertainment, blissfully unaware of the torture they endured behind the scenes. Once these practices came to light, we collectively agreed that forcing animals to perform in circuses is inhumane, cruel, and barbaric. 

After the Annika Schleu / Kim Raisner incident, modern pentathlon will no longer be ridden in future (although horses will still be required to compete in an obstacle course in the style of the "Ninja Warrior" competition which hardly seems like a good outcome for horses). 

Blinded by a rider's need to win, it is clear that equestrian sports encourage animal cruelty.

This petition calls on the International Olympic Committee to ban equestrian sports from future Olympics. 

Please check out an article that inspired me to start this petition:

Equestrian sports encourage animal cruelty - they should be banned from the Olympics