When equestrian at the Olympics hit the headlines for the wrong reasons

By PA Sport Staff

The controversy engulfing triple Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin has led to further calls from animal rights organisations for equestrian sports to be banned from the Games.

Here we look back over five previous occasions on which equestrian at the Olympics has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

2020 Tokyo:

German modern pentathlon trainer Kim Raisner was sent home from the Games after being filmed punching a horse during the women’s event. The horse, Saint Boy, had refused a jump for Annika Schlau, which cost the favourite any chance of the gold medal.

The incident prompted the sport’s governing body to announce it would axe the equestrian element of the discipline from the 2028 Olympics onwards.

2020 Tokyo:

Two high profile incidents led to animal rights organisation PETA demanding the removal of equestrian events from the Olympics. Jet Set, a horse ridden by Switzerland captain Robin Godel, was euthanised after being injured in the cross-country element of the eventing competition.

Meanwhile, a horse belonging to Irish rider Cian O’Connor was allowed to continue its showjumping round despite having blood pouring from its nostrils.

2008 Beijing:

Six competitors were banned after their horses tested positive during the equestrian competitions in Hong Kong.

Four of those, including one ridden by Ireland’s Denis Lynch, tested positive for capsaicin, a hyper-sentitizing substance derived from chilli peppers that can improve a horse’s performance but also leave them in serious pain if they hit the rails of a jump.

2004 Athens:

Germany were stripped of their team jumping gold medal after a horse ridden by Ludger Beerbaum tested positive. Cian O’Connor was also stripped of his gold in the individual showjumping – Ireland’s first ever equestrian medal – after his horse Waterford Crystal tested positive.

The sport’s governing body, the FEI, handed Lynch a three-month ban but acknowledged he had not been involved in a deliberate attempt to affect the performance of the horse.

1936 Berlin:

A daunting 22-mile cross-country course included a water jump that appeared to be derived to catch out opponents of the German team, who would end the equestrian programme with a clean sweep of gold medals. No fewer than 18 horses fell at the jump, of which four had to be euthanised.

As a result of the incidents the FEI banned jumps over hurdles into ponds, albeit the ruling was subsequently reversed.