VERSAILLES: The International Equestrian Federation is confident the sport will remain on the Olympic programme despite several cases of horse abuse, FEI president Ingmar de Vos said on Thursday.

The FEI on Tuesday suspended six-times Olympic medallist Charlotte Dujardin over her training methods, before a video showed the dressage rider whipping a horse’s legs multiple times, sparking a broader debate about equestrian sports.

“I was very upset, I was surprised and very upset [when I saw the footage],” De Vos told reporters.

Despite the outcry, De Vos believes equestrian events — eventing, dressage, show jumping — will be at the Los Angeles Games in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.

“I’m very confident because we’ve been doing so much for horse welfare. We will be on the programme in Los Angeles and we will also be in Brisbane,” he said.

The FEI brutally woke up to the challenge of improving horse welfare after the Tokyo Olympics severely harmed its image.

In 2021, one horse died in a cross-country accident while another one suffered from severe nose bleeding from jumping and spectators were shocked by scenes of abuse in a modern pentathlon competition.

FEI chief veterinarian Goran Akerstrom said the FEI recently released an action plan with 37 measures to protect horses, including rules for the tightness of nosebands and flexible cross-country obstacles designed to prevent severe accidents.

Earlier this year, the body had suspended Colombian dressage competitor Cesar Parra over videos showing alleged animal abuse.

Denmark’s national equestrian body this month announced disciplinary proceedings against Carina Cassoe Kruth following similar allegations, local media reported.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2024