International dressage trainer says Dujardin video 'not representative of industry'

An international dressage trainer and former rider from Gloucestershire says she "absolutely cannot condone" the video that caused British Olympian Charlotte Dujardin to pull out of the Paris Olympic Games.

Pammy Hutton, fellow of the British Horse Society, is the principal of Talland School of Equitation in Cirencester.

She's a former international dressage rider, a current dressage rider to Premier League level, and trains para-riders, Olympic riders and international dressage athletes.

She says she's proud to be one of the few horse trainers talking about video footage of Charlotte Dujardin repeatedly whipping a horse in training.

Dujardin, 39, has been provisionally suspended by equestrian's governing body, the Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), with immediate effect after footage shows her walking alongside and using a long whip to hit the legs of a horse, that she is training, more than 20 times.

The horse, which is being ridden by a separate person, can be seen pacing near to the wall of an indoor enclosure and kicking its back legs out.

Dujardin has said she is "sincerely sorry" for the video.

Pammy Hutton says in standing up and talking to the media, she hopes to put the positivity back in horse sports and the beauty of the top tests in Paris, ahead of the start of the Olympics on Friday 26 July.

In an interview with ITV West Country on Wednesday 24 July, she said: "This is not about me and talent- it's about training and what we have seen is not training. I cannot condone the video.

"Paramount is the welfare of the horse. If a horse swishes it's tail because of a fly, then the occasional light touch of a whip is alright- but what we have seen is not training of a horse in anyway whatsoever.

"This video should not be representative of the industry at all."

During the interview, the same style of whip being used in the video was used correctly by trainers at Talland - something Pammy wished to highlight.

She added: "All of our governing bodies have brought in a lot of things this year, having the welfare of the horses paramount. We are moving forward, thank goodness, from the last century.

"I'm going to take it back to the very simplest. I love animals- I even have my dog with me out of camera shot. Horses visit hospitals now, dogs visit hospitals, they're good for mental and physical welfare.

"In September, we watch the Paralympics. Riding for the disabled is one of the biggest things that is covered by riding schools.

"Horses are so good for humans and humans need to be good for horses in order to maintain horse sports. You only have to look at a horse in a field to see it doing flying changes, pirouettes, trodding across the field doing bussage with it's legs up.

"The most important aid with a horse should be what you're thinking and your communication with it in order to improve the peace and harmony and the degree of difficulty required when you're competing at Olympic level.

"I think that we need to remember that the positives outweigh the negatives. Social media can be incredibly detrimental.

"Today, I hope to put the positive slant back on dressage and the beauty of the top tests that we'll see in Paris next week."