Three-time Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin can be seen repeatedly whipping a horse around its legs while coaching another rider in a video published by multiple UK media outlets.
The video is part of an official complaint filed against British star Dujardin with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, or FEI.
It shows Dujardin repeatedly striking the horse, walking closer and swinging the whip again after it moves away.
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Dujardin was set to compete in the Paris Games but withdrew after the video emerged.
The fallout from the video has left Dujardin’s career in tatters — costing her a damehood that she was expected to receive if she won another dressage medal in Paris and valuable funding dollars.
On Wednesday, Dujardin had her UK Sport funding suspended pending the outcome of the FEI investigation.
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She was also dropped as an ambassador for horse welfare charity Brooke and had two sponsors — equestrian insurance company KBIS and Danish equestrian equipment company Equine LTS — withdraw their support.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Dujardin claimed the video was from four years ago, and that it “shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session”.
She said it “was completely out of character” and she was “deeply ashamed”.
Stephan Wensing, a Dutch equine lawyer who represents the complainant to FEI, told Sky News the video was taken two-and-a-half years ago at a private barn in the United Kingdom.
Following the intense public reaction to the video, Wensing explained that his client did not take pleasure in seeing Dujardin cancelled but was compelled to expose a widespread issue in dressage.
“It’s not fun to ruin a career. She’s not celebrating; she doesn’t feel like a hero,” Wensing told BBC Sport.
“But she told me this morning this had to be done because she wants to save dressage.”
Wensing said his client was watching the lesson and took the video.
“When she filmed this and was aware of this two and a half years ago, she was thinking everything this superstar, the best rider, is doing, must be OK. This must be the way to train horses and how to deal with it,” he said.
“Charlotte Dujardin was explaining during the lesson that she wanted the horse lifting the legs up more in canter.
“Later on, [the whistleblower] was thinking, ‘This is not OK’. She had spoken with several people in the profession and they all warned her ‘Don’t fight’.
“She was really afraid. There was a sort of fear culture and she was also thinking, ‘When I do something, it will be victim-blaming’.”
Dujardin was provisionally suspended from all events under FEI jurisdiction, pending the result of the probe after the governing body received the footage on Monday.
The FEI said Dujardin has confirmed she is the person shown in the video, and that she requested her own provisional suspension.
The 39-year-old Dujardin won gold at the 2012 London Olympics in team and individual dressage and won another individual gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, as well as a silver in team.
She took bronze in team and individual at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Her six medals are tied for the most by a female British Olympian.