Equestrian sport is in an image crisis. After several animal welfare scandals, even the world association is stirring – also after pressure from politics.
Several incidents at the Olympics and questionable training methods on Ludger Beerbaum’s farm – equestrian sport has increasingly made negative headlines and has received a lot of criticism, including from a non-equestrian public. “Subjectively, I have the feeling that it has increased over the past few years,” says horse scientist Kathrin Kienapfel in an interview with Sportschau. The biologist from Datteln in North Rhine-Westphalia has been researching horse-rider interaction for years.
The topic also resonates at the CHIO 2022 in Aachen, the world’s largest tournament of its kind. Many have become more alert to animal welfare, says Kienapfel, but not only the normal public, but also the animal protection associations. It’s becoming less and less tolerated. We have a different perception of animal welfare. Not only in equestrian sport, this is also the case in livestock farming.”
Ingots at Ludger Beerbaum’s farm?
Most recently, in January, an RTL report about questionable training methods on Ludger Beerbaum’s farm caused a stir. The accusation: The forbidden training method “parallel bars” was used. Horses that jump over an obstacle are hit in the air with a pole on their legs. This should cause the horse to pull its legs in even more the next time it jumps.
Beerbaum disagreed, arguing that the secretly filmed recordings showed permissible “touching”. However, it is difficult to distinguish between the two methods, so many have called for a ban on touching as well. The German Equestrian Federation (FN) kept a low profile on the subject for a long time, which brought criticism. Because in January 2021 she had already set up a commission to deal with the topic.
FN also prohibits touching
“It was the wish of those involved in the Commission that they could really discuss among themselves and speak quite openly without worrying that they would be pushed or attacked by the media or the public,” said FN Secretary General Sönke Lauterbach in the Podcast of the WDR background magazine Sport inside: “If you look at the discussion culture in social networks, I have a great understanding that they first wanted to talk very factually internally. In the end, the commission unanimously recommended that touching on the jump should be banned. The general meeting of the FN then did that also implemented in May.”
The decision is “a really great sign and incredibly valuable”, says horse scientist Kienapfel: “If a controversial method is finally banned, we’re on the side of animal welfare. That’s exactly where we have to get, in my opinion.”
Scientists are working on defining Rollkur
Kienapfel’s area of expertise is the ongoing issue of rollkur, in which a horse is ridden in an unnaturally narrow and low neck position. Here, too, the boundaries between the forbidden method and the permitted narrow neck setting are blurred. The Swiss National Stud of Agroscope, where Kienapfel is employed, wants to define the Rollkur with measurable criteria. The project will be completed at the end of the year, says Kienapfel.
France’s government wants “horse welfare games”
Switzerland had already banned the Rollkur by law in 2014. The government as a driver of horse welfare – this is also currently happening in France. A report by the National Assembly made 46 recommendations for equestrian rules in a 70-page report. This includes, for example, stricter specifications for bits, reins, nosebands and bridles and also that overstretching the horse’s neck should be prohibited in dressage. The goal: The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are to be “Horse Welfare Games”.
“It is unusual for such statements to come from such high levels of government,” says Kienapfel: “Normally governments let the national equestrian federations take over. It’s a great sign that the tide is changing.” That is also necessary, because “If nothing changes now, we will have problems as to whether equestrian sport will remain an Olympic discipline at all. Because the Olympics in particular stand for fairness, for sportsmanship.”
FEI forms commission
Following the publication of the report, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced in early June that it had a commission “Social License to Operate” formed with independent professionals. FEI President Ingmar de Vos said: “There are already comprehensive systems and mechanisms in place to protect the welfare of the horse. But more can and must be done. In an ever-changing society, where perceptions are changing and norms are evolving at an ever-increasing rate, the FEI must focus on these Address concerns and criticism from society and within the equestrian community in a clear and transparent manner.”
Improvements have also recently been made at the CHIO in Aachen. The information stewards introduced in 2019 are again available to guests in Aachen this year – for the first time not only at the training areas for dressage riders, but also for show jumpers. “They should get into conversation with the spectators and, if necessary, explain what is happening on the pitches,” said FN Secretary General Lauterbach.
Information stewards at the CHIO
With the information stewards is the CHIO “as a showcase for equestrian sport, set a super good example”, says Kienapfel: “I found that incredibly constructive and goal-oriented, you saw a clear improvement there.” Kienapfel believes that it is no coincidence that equestrian sports associations are addressing the issue of animal welfare. “I think this combination of interference from the top, from the state, combined with public perception is now achieving something,” he says.
The current crisis could also be an opportunity: “If, for example, these recommendations by the French government are implemented at least in part, then we definitely have the opportunity to change this rather critical image of the public and to say: Look, the riders are showing the way. There is another way. “It’s a wonderful sport and goes far beyond sport. It’s a relationship between humans and animals that inspires you. It would be great if you could take that to the public.”