After the TV station RTL made further unpublished material available to the German Equestrian Federation FN, FN Secretary General Soenke Lauterbach stated that “Parts of the documented processes clearly do not correspond to our description of touching. For example, a backswing can be seen before the touching bar touches the horse’s legs.“
FN gets detailed video material
RTL had it FN leave a multi-minute compilation of various video sequences. So far, the FN had only been shown a few seconds of short and pixelated scenes on one occasion. The location and people involved could not be identified. The FN has now checked the longer, non-pixelated compilation to see whether the scenes shown correspond to the description of touching that is formulated in the Guidelines for Riding and Driving Volume 2.
Beerbaum welcomed the association’s first classification in a statement. It will “It’s clear that the German FN deals with the original recordings in a very differentiated way and goes into the touching that I firmly believe can be seen”, explained the 58-year-old. He and his team will now go to the FN to use the original images “to also explain the video recordings from our side and to comment on the allegations”.
With regard to association regulatory procedures, the FN is now further examining whether the allegations of a violation of the performance examination regulations result from the images. Concrete actions are described therein and only these can be substantiated by the FN with a disciplinary measure. In addition to the question of whether such actions exist, it is also examined who the people involved in the video are.
Disciplinary Commission of the FN decides
The Disciplinary Commission of the FN is responsible for regulatory procedures. The Disciplinary Commission is an honorary body made up of independent legal experts. At the end of a disciplinary procedure, the Disciplinary Commission decides whether a violation has been proven and whether a disciplinary measure is imposed. A disciplinary measure can be, for example, a fine or an exclusion from participation in tournaments.
State proceedings by the public prosecutor’s office or veterinary authorities for a possible violation of the Animal Welfare Act are independent of the association’s regulatory proceedings. The FN had already pointed out the television report to the public prosecutor’s office last week. The video material provided by RTL also shows scenes from a rural horse show. These are also currently being reviewed to determine whether regulatory procedures need to be initiated.