Despite generally good welfare for horses at the 2024 Paris Olympics, many animal lovers remain haunted by troubling of Britain鈥檚 triple Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin mistreating a horse during a training session, which emerged just days before the opening ceremony. Dujardin had been set to compete this summer in dressage 鈥� the sport in which horses perform elegant steps and dance-like movements, often to music. But there was a public outcry after the video showed her forcefully striking a clearly distressed horse more than 20 times over a minute-long clip.
Stripped of sponsorships and suspended by the F茅d茅ration Equestre Internationale (FEI), Dujardin finds herself under the hot glare of an outraged public 鈥� and for good reason. What happened in the video is upsetting and wrong. Those involved in equestrian events need to seize this opportunity to improve horse welfare 鈥� as well as the image of the industry 鈥� by revamping the way they train horses.
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Many equitation scientists, who study the science of horse training, say that, when used correctly, whips offer an acceptable way to extend, or replace, our own arms when gently touching these large animals. It鈥檚 sort of like using a telescopic pointer on a large screen, says .
Dujardin鈥檚 heavy-handed and senseless use of the whip creates confusion and frustration for the horse, which shows clear signs of psychological stress, says Marc Pierard at the University of Central Lancashire. 鈥淵ou can see that the horse is very tense, and he can鈥檛 figure out what Charlotte wants. He鈥檚 getting desperate.鈥�
Ethical, science-based training works with contact akin to a tap on the shoulder or a fly on the arm: you touch the horse鈥檚 leg; it tries different reactions to remove the contact; it finds the 鈥渞ight鈥� way 鈥� the one you want it to do 鈥� and you remove the contact immediately.
This is rewarding for the horse, but adding a slice of carrot at that precise moment can further strengthen the reward feeling, says at The Horse Trust charity. Research that well-timed rewards create spikes of dopamine 鈥� a feel-good hormone 鈥� in the brain. As a result, the horse wants to perform, and is even happy to do so, she says.
Equitation scientists call this concept learning theory, and it has been repeatedly in practice. When the rewards come within a second of the horse鈥檚 action, horses and trainers can enter into a sort of interspecies communication about what they expect of each other. When training is done well, horses soon respond to a simple word, shift in balance or even facial expression.
But learning theory is clearly not what is happening in the Dujardin video, Telatin, Pierard and Pearson agree. Whatever she is trying to teach the horse, she shows no logic in her timing; she adds and removes whip contact randomly regardless of the horse鈥檚 response. The horse tries a multitude of different responses 鈥� but none work. The result: Dujardin hasn鈥檛 trained the horse in any way.
Critically, though, this incident is a reflection of a sport that is rooted in tradition, rather than science. Dujardin has for her actions, but the real problem is a general lack of scientific education about how horses learn 鈥� which is sadly common among high-level riders.
This could be a real wake- up call for equestrianism, says Pearson. 鈥淚t will take a very brave person to step up and say, 鈥楳aybe we need to rethink what we鈥檙e doing.'鈥� It may need courage, but it is past time for equestrians to get educated about equitation science 鈥� to understand how horses learn, and to train them according to that knowledge.
Christa Lest茅-Lasserre is聽a science journalist specialising in animal health and behaviour
