Allegations against Beerbaum
In January, allegations were made against show jumper Ludger Beerbaum that he was using the illegal parallel bars training method. Videos of Beerbaum’s training facility had been leaked to the RTL TV station. A rider could be seen jumping over an obstacle and an employee hitting the horse’s front legs with a pole.
“The scenes in the riding arena shown in the article have nothing to do with parallel bars”, said Beerbaum. “It is a matter of permitted touching, which was carried out by an experienced, experienced horse specialist. The object seen in the video met the requirements of the German Equestrian Federation for permitted touching: no longer than three meters, maximum weight of two kilograms.”