British eventer Tom McEwen insists the conduct of dressage star Charlotte Dujardin was not reflective of equestrian sports. Dujardin withdrew from Paris on Tuesday and was banned for six months by equestrian's governing body pending an investigation into a video from four years ago which showed her repeatedly hitting a student's horse with a whip from the ground during a coaching session. The video has initiated a wider debate about the future of equestrian sports at the Olympics, but after getting Team GB's eventing squad off to a fine start in the dressage element, McEwen maintained horse welfare is always the priority.
He said: "I think it was a shock for all of us, but at the end of it we're here to portray our sport in a positive light. I believe eventing is one of the greatest sports we're the triathlon of the horse world." "I would be more than happy to let anyone come into our yard and see how well those horses are looked after.
I think our sport is amazing and these horses are treated like kings and queens." "I do believe that this week, all of us here can show the sport to be the amazing sport that it is." McEwen, based at Gatcombe Park ark in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside, described the video as "deeply sad" for equestrian sport, but thinks the disciplinary process should now be allowed to come to fruition.
"We are 110 per cent behind horse welfare. I definitely don't condone at all Charlotte's behaviour, but she has put her hands up to it, owned it and.