‘We’ve got to put the horses first’: Carl Hester on the sport’s challenges – and the Charlotte Dujardin video

“We have to show the positives of the sport,” was the message from Carl Hester at the Paris Olympics, as he addressed the Charlotte Dujardin video – and the challenges facing equestrian sport.

Following Carl’s grand prix test this morning with the wonderful Fame, which slotted them into third of the group A riders on 77.35%, he tackled the topic of his former teammate.

Last week Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the dressage team for the Paris Olympics owing to an “error of judgement”, in a coaching session some years ago, captured in a video. Charlotte was suspended by the FEI pending the outcome of the investigation/disciplinary proceedings, and British Equestrian mirrored the suspension.

Carl said the video was “a huge shock to me” and confirmed he was not previously aware of it. The video was not filmed at his property.

“Charlotte’s made her statement, and she’s apologised and given her thoughts on it, which I respect. It’s now an ongoing investigation with the FEI,” said Carl.

“I’ve known Charlotte for 17 years, she’s a mum, and she’s paid very heavily for this in a way that you just wouldn’t believe. I know she will have to accept what the FEI gives her, and she will, but I just hope that she’s strong enough to be able to come back from that. Nobody’s going to support [what was seen in the video]. You can’t. But my personal opinion of Charlotte over 17 years – I have not seen that.”

Carl added that he has not seen Charlotte as he has been in Paris, but he said he knew that things are “very, very difficult” for her.

“She’s surrounded by people who are trying to help her. She obviously accepts what she did and I’m glad she’s done that. And everyone can see she’s done that,” he said.

“This was four years ago, people do make mistakes. Right now it’s going to be a long road for her, and a lesson for everybody in the horse world. We’ve got to put the horses first and show that.”

Moving forwards, Carl said that “we have to show the positives of the sport”.

“We can show how much we love our horses, and how we train them,” he said. “As we see from the sport here in Paris; the last few days we’ve seen amazing sport and we’ve seen the care that everyone’s getting, the grooms here are incredibly hard working, how they love and look after the horses. And I hope that really starts to show.”

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