Horse-Whipping Case: British Rider Dujardin Handed One-Year Suspension

British dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin has received a one-year suspension due to a controversy over the excessive whipping of a horse.

In July 2024, the FEI received a complaint, which included an attached video showing Dujardin whipping a horse more than twenty times during a training session at a private stable.

As a member of the British Equestrian Federation, which is a member of the FEI, Dujardin was held to be bound by the FEI Regulations, including the Statutes and General Regulations.

Dujardin accepted to have committed Abuse of the Horse, breach of the FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse and engaged in a conduct that brought the FEI and/or equestrian sport into disrepute. She also accepted the proposed sanction of a one-year suspension and a fine of 10’000 CHF. Thereafter, the ‘Acceptance of Sanctions’ agreement reached between FEI and Dujardin was ratified by the FEI Tribunal.

The period of provisional suspension already served by Dujardin, i.e., from July 23, 2024, to the date of the Tribunal’s decision, December 5, 2024, was credited against the imposed ineligibility period.