I Never Realised The Olympics Is This Year, Sometime.

@foxie48

Thank you for your detailed description of dressage and training for those of us who are not so familiar with horses.

She whacks that horse hard. The poor creature had no escape. It has been said that it's not an isolated incident.

They've certainly done Dujardin none.
She has been suspended for six months, and rightly so.

It's good to read calm, reasoned comments on this from fellow posters who know about horses and dressage. It is not cruel in itself, nor is the proper and correct use of a lunging whip - which should not come into contact with the horse itself.
The clip is now widely available on many news and newspaper websites for anyone who wants to view it for themselves. I don't think anyone is trying to justify whipping a horse - as I've repeatedly stated on here, I would never condone any kind of cruelty to horses, but kneejerk reactions don't do anyone any favours.

They showed the footage on Good Morning Britain. If anyone wants to see it you can probably find it online.

They sho

If you mean me, I actually did ride as a teen.

Thanks for your reasonable and informed posts, Foxie48

I would like to see the video before making any comment on what actually happened.

So far I just object to the labelling of dressage as being 'unnatural' by people who are unfamiliar with horses.

Joseann can you tell me where you found the clip, please. CDJ has said it was unacceptable behaviour and she's been given a suspension so it clearly overstepped the mark.
It is normal practice to use a schooling whip in training but it is never IME used to inflict pain or fear, that would be totally counter-productive. Passage and piaffe are not "unnatural" as suggested upthread. Watch horses in a field playing and you will see them do both. However, when ridden the rider needs to teach the horse the aids so that the horse understands what the rider is asking him to do. This is often started with in hand work using a schooling whip to encourage lift and the voice to further encourage the horse and to add praise, then riders will move on to ridden work with a trainer on the ground so they can transfer the movement to a particular aid given by the rider.
Horses are like people they have their own personalities, some are more reactive/sensitive than others, some are more athletic and some enjoy training others less so. CDJ likes her horses to be very reactive bundles of energy which most amateur riders would not be able to cope with! I wonder if she overstepped the mark with a client's horse out of frustration. I am definitely not excusing her in any way at all but clients pay a lot of money to train with her and tbh some of them expect results which can compromise what is best for the horse and the rider sometimes putting the trainer in a difficult position.
My most expensive horse turned out to be my biggest mistake and it took a very well respected trainer to tell me that my horse needed a different job that it was nothing to do with my riding ability. When I thanked her for her honesty she said many riders would have stopped training with her. I sold him for not much money to a woman who just wanted a lovely safe horse to hack and that was a job he could do and enjoyed. I bought another horse who thrived on training and we both learned so much together. Sorry to go on but dressage is not cruel, it is some people who are cruel to their horses.

I thought the idea was to crack the whip (if at all) just short of making contact- yes the horse may flinch at the sound, associate it with the whip and try to step higher to avoid in in future. Or bring it close to the legs, again so that the horse will step higher rather than walk into what it sees as an obstacle.
I am not making excuses but just as the movement of a jockeys whip, seen out of the corner of a racehorse’s eye is what makes it go faster rather than any physical contact, all may not be what it seems.

24 times in a minute, she used it, allegedly.

Charlotte DuJardin was using a lunging whip.

These are regularly used when training all horses even in your local riding schools.

They are essential for free lunging (when a horse is riderless and training in a school/menage)

What isn’t usual is for the whip to come into contact with the horse and actually whip it.

They are used to make a noise (crack of the whip) behind the horse or in front in order for the horse to change direction and/or pace. In some circumstances a very gently flick on the horse’s rear, but in my experience is very very rare.

I ride (rarely recently) AC and GC ride and until a few years ago we owned horses, DD competed.

I've seen a clip from the video. I know nothing about horses, but the animal does look like it is wincing after each whip it receives? I'm really going to have to explore and question my thinking on this sport.

I'm reliably informed that hitting anyone or thing that can't get away is wrong.

She whipped the horse's legs.

There is no justifying that.

MissAdventure

Mary Chippendale abused her circus animals, and got results from them.

You don't need to be a horse rider to know that hitting a horses legsnin order to make it perform inherently unnatural movements is cruel.

I take part of your point, MissA but the 'inherently unnatural' part is incorrect.

Which is why I prefer informed criticism to knee jerk.

Yes indeed there have (apparently) been others in the past have got animals to do what they want them to do by cruelty.

Mary Chippendale abused her circus animals, and got results from them.

You don't need to be a horse rider to know that hitting a horses legsnin order to make it perform inherently unnatural movements is cruel.

Rekarie

I'm on my phone. I can't post links. Just search cruelty in dressage. And no , I'm not referring to Charlotte when I say it's been going on for years.

Why is it important to know if I ride?

I'm just wondering how familiar you are with horses.

If this had been released 4 years ago then she would have got her 6 months suspension and it would have been brushed under the carpet, good on the whistleblower.

Ah.
I’ve been reading these posts and given this disclosure more thought.

I can now understand why release of this was timed to garner maximum exposure. Clever, really.

Thank you nightowl, couldn't have put it better myself

I'm on my phone. I can't post links. Just search cruelty in dressage. And no , I'm not referring to Charlotte when I say it's been going on for years.

Why is it important to know if I ride?

This shows how far modern dressage has come from its roots. Look how freely the horses used to move, in true harmony with the rider. This kind of training and riding is not rewarded in competitive dressage, so you won’t find it there.

youtu.be/flBGjpuL4qo?si=NmpVtr0cuH4Ief0r

Are you saying, Rekarie, that this specific instance of abuse, hitting the horse's legs to make it achieve more elevation in passage, has been going on for years? Or are you talking in more general terms of abuse?

Just as a matter of interest, do you ride?