The queen of Team GB's dressage team and six-time Olympic medalist has been banned from the sport just days before the Paris Olympics after a video emerged of her allegedly whipping a horse on its legs repeatedly.
READ MORE:British Dressage chiefs declared last night that the video of Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse 24 times 'like a circus elephant' was released 'to cause maximum damage' to the star's Olympic quest.
Meanwhile Madeline Hall, former dressage correspondent at Horse & Hound magazine, said: 'The timing of this video days before the Olympics smells of sabotage. To me it is suspect.' Dujardin was hoping to become Britain's most decorated Olympian but was forced to pull out of the games on Monday Read More Dutch lawyer at centre of Charlotte Dujardin scandal is an equine specialist pictured holding a whip A spokesperson for the Netherlands team said they 'regret the expulsion of our fellow athlete' but 'also condemn the training method used by Dujardin in the video', adding: 'This has no place in our equestrian sports where the welfare of the horse comes first.
Reacting to the news last night, Mr Brautigam, who heads up the UK's organisation for dressage, said the last few days had been 'an extremely upsetting time for everyone involved in the sport', adding that the community had been 'let down'. The chief of British Dressage rejected claims that the group had seen the video prior to its public release this week, adding that it supports all whistleblowers.
'I do find claims that this was done to 'save dressage' somewhat disingenuous, given that it was timed to cause maximum damage to our sport,' he added. Ms Dujardin would have been a shoo-in for a damehood if she had picked up a medal in Paris, which was all she needed to become Britain's most successful female Olympian ever.Dujardin with her fiancé Dean Wyatt-Golding after winning the gold medal at the Dressage in the 2016 Rio Olympics
'What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils. 'In the wake of the distressing news this week, I wanted to write to you all personally to share my views and reflections on what this means for us and the future for our sport. 'Contrary to some reports, we did not receive any complaint or have any sight of the video prior to this week. Had that happened, we would have acted swiftly and decisively, just as we did on Monday. We always protect and support whistleblowers and would encourage anyone with evidence of equine abuse to come forward at the earliest opportunity.
'While we cannot collectively be held responsible for the actions of individuals behind closed doors, we can hold them to account when breaches of our rules and regulations come to light. We will be measured on how we now react to this situation. The sport of dressage is not defined by one person – and no one person is bigger than our sport.
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