PETA Statement re Olympic Rider Video Showing Horse Abuse

For Immediate Release:
July 23, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding British Olympic equestrian team member Charlotte Dujardin’s withdrawal from the Olympic Games after a video surfaced showing her repeatedly striking a horse during a training session four years ago:

The message to the International Olympic Committee should be clear by now: Remove equestrian events from the Olympic Games. 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.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.