Equestrian star Isabell Werth has been advocating for better horse welfare at the Paris Olympics. However, she became frustrated when the focus shifted from the competition to discussions about suspended riders.
Following the Charlotte Dujardin video scandal that attracted significant attention before the Paris Games, Werth and other riders called for a major change in the sport to prevent violence against horses.
British rider Carl Hester even suggested that the sport’s place in the Olympics was at risk.
Werth won a gold and a silver in Paris, bringing her total Olympic medal count to 14 — including eight golds — all in dressage.
At 55, Werth spoke about horse welfare again on Sunday after her events, as the controversy surrounding Dujardin’s video, showing her whipping her horse’s legs, was still a hot topic.
“We have seen some really bad videos, we all know, and we have to be aware. And the most important thing is that we all be really open-minded, we have to be,” Werth said.
“If something happens in the wrong way, we have to stop it immediately. This is a responsibility of all of us. If we love the sport and want to keep it going, this is what we have to do.”
When the equestrian events began last week, horse welfare was highlighted when Brazilian rider Carlos Parro received a yellow card warning for potentially causing “unnecessary discomfort” to his horse Safira before the Games.
The warning came after the equestrian governing body, FEI, received photos from the animal rights group PETA.
One photo showed Parro using a technique called “Rollkur,” which involves hyper-flexing Safira’s neck, potentially affecting her breathing, damaging her spine, and causing distress, according to PETA.
Connections are strong in equestrian sports. At the Paris Games, Werth rode a horse named Wendy, which she bought in January from Andreas Helgstrand’s stables. Helgstrand is an Olympic bronze medalist in team dressage with Denmark from the 2008 Games.
Helgstrand is suspended until December 31 due to a documentary called “Operation X: Secrets of the Horse Billionaire,” which aired last November on Danish TV 2 and exposed horse abuse at his training facility.
An undercover reporter, pretending to be a groom, filmed secretly and claimed that horses had deep cuts and whip marks. The documentary suggested that grooms used shoe polish to hide cuts from metal spurs and covered up whip marks with blankets to keep them hidden from potential clients.
The Danish equestrian federation’s suspension, which Helgstrand did not contest, also bans him from coaching. The FEI has also suspended him.
After the second day of the dressage test event in Versailles last Wednesday, a Danish reporter asked Werth about Helgstrand’s suspension. She reacted strongly.
“I don’t discuss this here. Not more Charlotte, not more Andreas, not more Parro, nothing more. Everything is said,” Werth said. “I got a fantastic mare, and a very great, beloved mare, and I got super other horses from Helgstrand Dressage, so there’s nothing more to discuss.”
