International Olympic Committee Must Ban Horses
The cruelty to horses that erupted in Olympic-size scandals must never be allowed to happen again.
Reports of abuse started to emerge before the Games began with the shocking video of British Olympian Charlotte Dujardin viciously whipping a horse and allegations that German rider Max Kühner had been seen “barring” a horse (striking the animal’s legs with a heavy stick to force them to jump higher). The 2024 competition also saw horses bleeding from the mouth and legs. Their necks were forced into bizarre contortions, and bridles were pulled so harshly the horses’ tongues turned blue.
In response, PETA entities in Asia, Australia, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and the US – representing over 9 million members and supporters – have formally requested that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) eliminate equestrian events from the Olympic Games. The letter pointed to the ongoing abuse scandals, the impossibility of policing such events, and the public’s rejection of entertainment that exploits animals.
Horse Abuse at the Olympics
The disgusting cruelty that made headlines over the last three weeks isn’t new. Abuse is pervasive in forcing horses to perform, and the yearslong failure of the industry’s ruling body to protect horses warrants its ejection from the Olympics.
- Colombian-American Olympic coach and former rider Cesar Parra was caught on video whipping one horse and tying down the head of another.
- Swiss Olympian Martin Fuchs whipped a clearly terrified horse who didn’t want to jump a fence.
- Canadian Eric Lamaze’s horse dropped dead during a stadium jumping event.
- German Olympian Ludger Beerbaum was also caught barring a horse.
- New Zealand Olympian Sir Mark Todd repeatedly beat a reluctant horse with a thick tree branch.
- A video reported to be of Danish Olympian Carina Cassøe Krüth whipping a horse while training under bronze medal winner Andreas Helgstrand in 2022 has just surfaced.
The abuse is entrenched, and all efforts to eradicate it have failed.
Progress Is Possible
There is a precedent for eliminating equestrian events. The ruling body of the modern pentathlon, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, swiftly ended the equestrian portion of the sport when it saw the public outrage in response to the whipping and striking of terrified horse Saint Boy at the 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021 in Tokyo).
Horses Don’t Care About Gold Medals
Equestrian events are the only Olympic “sports” in which athletes must be forced, through violence and coercion, to participate.
Subjugating animals to force them to perform dangerous and meaningless acts is contrary to the physical excellence and harmony among willing human competitors that characterise the rest of Olympic competition.
Send the International Olympic Committee a Message
More than 153,000 people have e-mailed the IOC asking for equestrian events to be eliminated from the Olympics – join them in taking action for horses.
