A 66-year-old Australian dressage rider has been suspended after being caught on video repeatedly whipping a young horse named Nico. The video of the Olympic dressage rider, Heath Ryan, whipping the horse caused the Equestrian Australia (EA) to place him on a provisional suspension during an investigation.
In a statement, EA said:
Equestrian Australia is aware of footage posted on social media showing a person repeatedly whipping a horse. We have also received a formal complaint about the matter.
Equestrian Australia is extremely alarmed and concerned by the treatment of the horse shown in this footage.
Ryan took to social media with his own commentary on the disturbing incident, writing in part:
“I am so sad that this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself, I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico straight to the knackery.”
Prompting outraged comments from people who were stunned that a highly trained equestrian rider could think of only two options for a “difficult” horse – whipping him or sending him away to be put down (the knackery).
But Ryan claims that he was simply trying to save the horse, writing, “All I can say is that this awful video was collateral damage of me from the bottom of my heart launching a rescue mission.”
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