Latest news with #horsewhipping
Fox News
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Equestrian Australia suspends Olympian Heath Ryan after concerning video surfaces showing him whipping horse
Print Close By Paulina Dedaj Published June 13, 2025 Olympic dressage rider Heath Ryan was suspended by Equestrian Australia on Thursday after video shared online showed him reportedly whipping a horse. The sports governing body announced the suspensions in a lengthy post, adding that it followed both the revelation of the video online and a formal complaint. "Equestrian Australia is extremely alarmed and concerned by the treatment of the horse shown in this footage," the statement read. Ryan was not named in the statement. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON "Equestrian Australia has this afternoon imposed a provisional suspension of this person's membership of Equestrian Australia and their rights, privileges and benefits associated with their membership. This means they may take no part in competitions or events as competitor or Official or in the organization of, or participation in, any event under the jurisdiction of Equestrian Australia." Ryan, who represented Australia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, posted a lengthy message on social media claiming that the video was from two years ago and shared by an "unhappy ex-employee." Reports say the video showed Ryan whipping the horse 42 times. GOLD MEDAL EQUESTRIAN RIDER WITHDRAWS FROM OLYMPICS AFTER VIDEO SHOWS ALLEGED 'ERROR OF JUDGMENT' WITH HORSE He claimed that the horse, Nico, had been brought to him by a family friend after that person was hospitalized following an incident with the horse. Ryan claimed he had saved the horse from being euthanized. "If a beautiful [6-year-old] horse turns up at your facility and it was bred by your stallion and it belonged to a lifelong friend of yours who had been put in hospital in intensive care by this horse would you just send it to the Knackery?? Well I didn't and I felt obliged to the horse to just have a look and see if it was possibly salvageable," he wrote in a post on Facebook. "I am so sad this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico to the Knackery. That video was a life or death moment for Nico and of that I was very aware," Ryan said, later adding that his actions were done in the "best interests" of the animal. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Equestrian Australia said it "takes matters of animal welfare very seriously" and that Ryan's suspension will remain in place pending an investigation by the Equestrian Australia's Integrity Unit. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Print Close URL
CNA
a day ago
- Sport
- CNA
Equestrian-Australian Olympian suspended after video of horse whipping emerges
SYDNEY :Dressage rider Heath Ryan, who competed for Australia at the 2008 Olympics, has been suspended by Equestrian Australia after video of him whipping a horse during training was posted on social media. In echoes of the incident that resulted in six-times Olympic medallist Charlotte Dujardin being barred from the Paris Games last year, the two-year-old video showed Ryan whipping the horse repeatedly. "Equestrian Australia is extremely alarmed and concerned by the treatment of the horse shown in this footage," the governing body said in a statement. "Equestrian Australia has imposed a provisional suspension of this person's membership (which) means they may take no part in competitions or events as competitor or Official or in the organisation of, or participation in, any event under (our) jurisdiction." The 66-year-old rider will remain suspended until an investigation into the video is completed, Equestrian Australia added. Ryan released a lengthy statement on social media defending his actions, saying he had saved the six-year-old horse from being destroyed after it had attacked its owner. "The most awful video of me on a young horse has just surfaced. This horse was dropped off at my place on his way to the knackery," he wrote. "I felt obliged to the horse to just have a look and see if it was possibly salvageable. Well did I get a shock and so the video. I have never ridden anything like it. I am so sad this was caught on video." Ryan said the video had been placed online by an "unhappy ex-employee" and posted another which he said showed the horse thriving in a new home. "If you think I did that flippantly you are wrong. I hated reaching out in those moments to (it) and asking the hard questions," he added. "All I can say is that this awful video was collateral damage of me from the bottom of my heart launching a rescue mission." After last year's Dujardin ban, the global governing body for showjumping and dressage pledged it would be uncompromising in enforcing animal welfare.
