Charlotte Dujardin damehood plans scrapped as Olympic champion has funding suspended
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/charlotte-dujardin-damehood-plans-scrapped-funding-suspend/
Posted by TheTelegraph
Charlotte Dujardin damehood plans scrapped as Olympic champion has funding suspended
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/charlotte-dujardin-damehood-plans-scrapped-funding-suspend/
Posted by TheTelegraph
26 Comments
***Telegraph Sport reports exclusively:***
The [video of Charlotte Dujardin](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/video-charlotte-dujardin-whip-horse-good-morning-britain/) viciously striking a horse on the back of the legs with a long whip has cost her a damehood, Telegraph Sport understands.
Dujardin needed one medal in Paris to [become Britain’s most successful female Olympian](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/23/charlotte-dujardin-withdraw-shock-unprecedented-team-gb/) but a [backlash over her shock ban](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/charlotte-dujardin-olympic-ban-crushing-blow-equestrianism/) has left her career in tatters. As well as costing her a top potential honour, she has also also been immediately stripped by UK Sport of funding and dropped by equine welfare charity Brooke as an ambassador.
Prior to the furore which erupted around her on Tuesday, Dujardin was all-but-certain to be handed a damehood so long as she secured another medal in Paris. But, [following her withdrawal](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/23/charlotte-dujardin-out-olympics-paris-2024-team-gb-error/) and subsequent six-month suspension from the sport, Whitehall sources said any such honour is now off the table.
Dujardin is already the recipient of a CBE. When asked whether a review could eventually be launched over that honour, other insiders within Government said the committee would await the findings of an investigation by equestrian’s governing body, the FEI. Only figures facing major disgrace tend to be stripped of honours, insiders point out, however.
The three-time Olympic equestrian champion was shown repeatedly striking a horse “like an elephant in the circus” in distressing footage shared with Telegraph Sport.
Dujardin can be seen using the whip on several occasions against a horse she is training. The full video, which has been shared with Telegraph Sport by the whistleblower’s lawyer, is alleged to show Dujardin striking the animal 24 times.
**Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/charlotte-dujardin-damehood-plans-scrapped-funding-suspend/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/charlotte-dujardin-damehood-plans-scrapped-funding-suspend/)
The video is absolutely disgusting. She should be banned from ever working with animals again.
Given how nonchalant the other 2 people are in the video, it’s likely it’s common practice. Not surprising that an activity where you get animals to perform tricks, the animals are being abused. The likeliness that this is the tip of the iceberg is pretty high.
Didn’t really help her case by trying to pretend this was some sort of out-of-character one off.
Really? It’s only ever happened ONCE? And that one time just HAPPENED to be the time it was being filmed?
Embarrassing.
“*This isn’t who I am*”, cries Dujardin.
Sure, lady, the *one time* you’ve lost your shit and whipped a horse there just *happened* to be someone filming it.
Dressage is an absolutely ridiculous ‘sport’ anyway. Like something out of a circus. Should be dropped entirely from the Olympics
I can’t quite make out in the video. Looks like she was tapping the horse legs and once hard on the side of the horse.
Is the tapping bad or is there other video of hitting the horse much harder?
Is it me or is the cameraman laughing?
Hope this bitch never sees a horse again.
One time only… my arse!
About time dressage was banned from the olympics full stop, we should have long moved past abusing animals in the name of entertainment yet here we are in 2024 watching horses being forced to dance by rich people.
As an equestrian and a fan of Dujardin, I’m sad and disappointed with this.
I know for a fact she cares immensely about the wellbeing of animals, particularly horses, and I’m not sure how to square that knowledge with this video.
Edit: having seen more of the video, it gets significantly worse. I haven’t seen it all. I don’t want to see it all. It makes me really sad to see a role model do this.
Does anyone believe that the only time she ever mis-treated a horse was caught on video? Sure we do…
Said with a laugh, while the horse is trying to press itself against the side of the arena to get away:
> “This is so **** at hitting hard”.
This is absolutely what she normally does. She’s enjoying herself.
One night, she’s on tele saying how proud she is that her daughter will see her at the Olympics. How proud will she be now ?
And so they should. Posh tit deserves what she gets!
If that was really hurting the horse wouldn’t it just bolt and knock the rider off?
She had 24 errors of judgement that day . She whipped that poor animal 24 times !! This must be routine stuff , luckily she was caught red handed this time
What’s the difference between what’s going on here and Dettori coming down the home straight cheered on by thousands/millions?
In this instance, it’s akin to russian bear training. Whipping the animal until it does what you want.
Can I just say, that this obviously happens all the fucking time. Horses are routinely mistreated by trainers, be they race horses or for other equestrian activities.
I question, for not the first time in my life, why horses belong in the Olympics. These so called sports, which of course take talent, are completely inaccessible to the vast majority of people, and represent nothing of interest to them.
You don’t get horses to walk like they do in dressage by asking them nicely. Hopefully this is a wake up call on how this “sport” works.
Surprised that an investigation by the RSPCA and/or police hasn’t been announced for what appears to be clear animal abuse.
Two things.
She and this sport need to stop. It is right she has been booted. All the horse events and the racing. I’m not going to go so far as to say that any and all animal based entertainments need to end. To the best of my knowledge the dog-dancing things you see on talent shows and the like don’t seem like abuse. It’s the cruelty that’s the issue.
Second – one of the Netherlands volleyball players, Steven van de Velde was convicted of the rape of a 12 year old girl. He is competing at these Olympics. They have made him stay separately from the team and he isn’t allowed to speak to the media.
I’m not downplaying what Dujardin done, it’s an awful thing – I don’t think it’s a crime though. What van de Velde done is orders of magnitude more serious however.
Neither of them are deserving of attention, money or medals.
Classic, “let’s make this all about rich people being awful and some kind of class war rather than her just being a cunt argument” sub.
Meanwhile there’s a guy on the dutch volleyball team that literally raped a child, still qualified for the olympics though
We live in a strange time.
That horse probably lives a more comfortable life than many millions of people. It gets well fed, medical needs attended to, good quality housing.
Yet people will get outraged over giving it a load of smacks with a whip.
And Team GB will drop her over it. The same Team GB that has ADHB as an offical meat supplier. And has sponsors from the dairy industry, an industry that is responsible for a level of animal suffering that is hardly believable.
I’m not a vegan or anything but it is strange the moral stands people choose to take.
If you think she’s the only one doing this, then you’ll believe anything…..
Any sport with animals should be banned. Much less to be an Olympic sport. A horse was not born to keep jumping like an idiot over barriers. It was born to be free.